Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said President Donald Trump’s move to blockade shipping to and from Iranian ports is unlikely to achieve the administration’s goal of reopening the Strait of Hormuz and argued the conflict is unlawful without congressional authorization.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the Trump administration’s blockade of shipping tied to Iranian ports in an interview with NPR’s A Martínez.
Martínez played audio of President Donald Trump defending the move as a way to pressure Tehran, including the president’s remark: “We can't let a country blackmail or extort the world... We're not going to let that happen.” (wusf.org)
Van Hollen rejected the premise that the blockade would accomplish the administration’s stated aims. He argued that “before Donald Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu started this illegal war, the Strait of Hormuz was open,” and described the blockade as an “economic game of chicken” and “a losing proposition.” (wusf.org)
Van Hollen also said he does not trust the president’s public descriptions of diplomacy with Iran. He told NPR that the administration is “not sharing most information in real time” with lawmakers and said the Senate has not held open hearings with a senior decision-maker from the administration. He also said that when Trump previously claimed the U.S. was in direct conversations with Iran, “that was not true,” adding that talks have since taken place in Pakistan. (wusf.org)
On the economic impact, Van Hollen said the blockade would push up oil and gas prices and “drive fertilizer prices up,” warning that farmers were already “screaming.” (wusf.org) Separately, the International Monetary Fund has warned that the war has weighed on global growth and contributed to higher inflation, underscoring broader concerns about spillover effects from the conflict and disruptions around the Gulf. (axios.com)
Asked what is being discussed in the Pakistan meetings, Van Hollen said reporting indicates the focus has included Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. He pointed to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated under President Barack Obama and said Trump “ripped that up” during his first term. Van Hollen added that, as he understood it, Iran had previously reduced its stockpile and lowered enrichment to “about 3.2%,” and he said Tehran had shown a willingness to make concessions in past negotiations. (wusf.org)
Van Hollen said the president should end the war immediately and called it “an illegal war” because, he argued, Trump “never got authorization from Congress.” He said he would oppose additional funding for the conflict. (wusf.org)
In the interview, Van Hollen contended that despite Iran being “severely weakened” and “many of its leaders” being killed, the U.S. is “less safe,” and he described regional instability, including in Lebanon. He also said that no U.S. goals had been achieved, and noted that Trump had publicly claimed the U.S. had “won” more than once. (wusf.org)
As the Senate returned to work, Van Hollen said he planned to continue pushing a War Powers resolution aimed at forcing a vote related to U.S. involvement in the conflict. In a separate statement released April 13, Van Hollen said he filed a War Powers resolution and joined other Democratic senators pursuing similar measures, which his office said could be brought to the Senate floor under privileged procedures. (vanhollen.senate.gov)
NPR’s segment concluded after Martínez thanked the senator for joining the interview. (wusf.org)
