TEHRAN – U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff has said that due to Washington’s escalation of tensions with Tehran and its withdrawal from the international nuclear agreement, U.S. allies are increasingly isolating the U.S. and not Iran.

In an interview with CBS news’ “Face the Nation” aired on Sunday, he chastised National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for their “belligerent rhetoric” against Iran.

Schiff criticized the steps taken by the Trump administration “to renege on the Iran agreement, to try to force Europe to renege on the Iran agreement, to try to force Iran to withdraw from the agreement to go back to the path of enrichment, the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist group, the belligerent rhetoric from the administration from Pompeo, from Bolton.”

“All of these policy decisions have led us to a state where confrontation is far more likely and that cannot be ignored,” he added. 

“When you take a series of steps that, yes, ratchet up tensions, you shouldn’t be surprised when the intelligence tells you, ‘Hey tensions have been ratcheted up. It's now more a risk of confrontation.’”

Schiff pointed out that this is why “our allies are departing from us. This is why our allies increasingly are isolating us and not Iran.”

He added that the Trump administration’s policies have not made the United States any safer.

“The problem is that this ratcheting up of tensions was all too predictable, all too calculated by people like Bolton and Pompeo and it has led us to the precipice of potential catastrophe,” he remarked.

MH/PA