1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

We are writing with urgent alarm. The United States is on the brink of another catastrophic war in the Middle East. President Trump has deployed the USS Gerald Ford and USS Abraham Lincoln to the Persian Gulf—a buildup comparable to the 2003 Iraq invasion—and issued a 10-to-15-day ultimatum to Iran, threatening that "bad things will happen" if negotiations fail. We urge you to use your constitutional authority to block any unauthorized military action. History must inform our choices. In 1953, the CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, reinstating the authoritarian Shah and igniting decades of mistrust. That legacy of intervention fuels the current crisis. Today, we are being steered toward war by allies with their own interests. This June, the U.S. and Israel conducted a 12-day bombing campaign that killed over 1,000 Iranians, and Israeli officials have long pushed for U.S. entanglement. We must not fight Israel's wars for them. The administration's demands—including eliminating Iran's ballistic missile program—seek total capitulation, not a negotiated settlement. Yet U.S. intelligence confirms Iran ended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, and the Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa forbidding weapons of mass destruction. Iran's nuclear program remains for peaceful civilian purposes, as verified by the IAEA. A war would be catastrophic. Iranian officials view any conflict as existential and will not calibrate their response. Iran has demonstrated the capacity to defeat advanced defenses and possesses hypersonic missiles. Military experts describe a "spirit of delusion" in the administration, where politics override tactics. Tens of thousands of American troops in the region face grave risk, and escalation could ignite a regional war with devastating blowback. Even Republican lawmakers and allied nations urge restraint. A significant portion of the Iranian opposition rejects Western intervention. We have been here before—with Iraq, with WMDs that did not exist. The cost in blood and treasure was catastrophic. Do not let momentum force us into another unnecessary war. Demand genuine diplomacy. The 2015 nuclear agreement proved negotiation is possible. Choose peace.