FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 28, 2026

Contact: Kevin Martin, President, kmartin@peaceaction.org

Jon Rainwater, Executive Director,  jrainwater@peaceaction.org 

PEACE ACTION STATEMENT ON THE ILLEGAL US/ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAN

Once again, the United States and Israel are illegally attacking Iran, as they did last June. It is already a regional war, which will take a horrible toll on ordinary people in many countries, with reports a girls’ school was bombed, killing at least fifty people. Unlike the limited strikes in last June’s 12 day war, this is aimed not just at Iran’s nuclear or military facilities, but at regime change in Iran, as President Trump declared, and government targets in Teheran have been hit. Predictably, Iran is firing back at Israel and at US military bases in the region. 

Just yesterday, the Foreign Minister of Oman, who has been mediating negotiations between the US and Iran, stated prospects were good for a possible agreement. However, according to an Israeli official, the talks were a treacherous ruse, as the US and Israel had planned coordinated attacks on Iran for months. 

This crisis lies at the feet of President Trump, who abrogated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in his first term. That multilateral agreement had effectively capped Iran’s nuclear program well short of acquiring The Bomb. Now, once again, two nuclear weapons states are bombing a non-nuclear weapons state. Meanwhile, Trump has ludicrously called for Iranians to overthrow their government.

The timing of this attack, while perhaps planned for months, came as momentum was building in just the last few days for Congressional War Powers Resolution votes in both the House and the Senate. Democratic leadership in both Houses of Congress had coalesced behind the resolutions, Senate Joint Resolution 104, sponsored by US Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Rand Paul (R-KY), with twelve other co-sponsors, and House Concurrent Resolution 38, sponsored by US Representatives Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Ro Khanna (D-CA), with over 80 co-sponsors. That resolution may be voted on as soon as Monday, according to Khanna. Congress must assert its Constitutional authority over matters of war and peace, against an out of control, rogue president and executive branch, and vote in favor of the Iran War Powers Resolutions. Congress should also impeach, convict, and remove the president from office for this illegal act, as politically unlikely as that appears now. 

Protest demonstrations will be held this weekend in many cities, reflecting not only the illegality of this war, but also its unpopularity, as seventy percent of Americans oppose war with Iran, according to a recent poll. The world urgently needs more diplomacy, not more war.

Peace Action is the country’s largest grassroots peace and disarmament network, with over 200,000 supporters nationwide. https://www.peaceaction.org/