Congress Must Restrain the Trump Administration from Nuclear Weapons First Use, Says Union of Concerned Scientists

President Donald Trump’s and his administration’s escalating threats against Iran, including alluding to first-use of nuclear weapons, have reached a breaking point. For the safety and security of the United States and the world at large, Congress must urgently intervene to prevent the United States from further escalating this conflict, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).

Communications Officer Food & Environment, Global Security jblatt@ucs.org 510-809-1578

This morning, President Trump issued this bleak threat: “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back” unless Iran cedes to his demands, and Vice President Vance intimated that the United States could use nuclear weapons against Iran. The Trump administration has expressed clear intent and willingness to commit acts of violence that cross the thresholds of decency and legality.

“President Trump actively chose to discard diplomatic solutions and pursue an illegal war of aggression against Iran, with unclear and shifting aims,” said Dr. Tara Drozdenko, director of the Global Security Program at UCS. “Now that the consequences and public narrative have spiraled out of his control, President Trump and his administration are acting erratically, even issuing nuclear and genocidal threats, to bring the conflict to a catastrophic new level.

“Congress should intervene today to rein in this illegal conflict, making it clear that what the president and vice president are suggesting is beyond the pale—defying both international law and common sense. This means passing a law restricting the United States from using nuclear weapons first in any circumstance.”

Such a law would prevent the United States from using nuclear weapons unless there has first been a nuclear strike against the United States or its allies. Variations of a bill to do so have been proposed in the past.

The use and threat of nuclear use have long been soundly rejected by civil society in the United States, by nations around the world, and by nuclear weapons states themselves. The G20 stated that use and threats of nuclear use are inadmissible, and the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States – reaffirmed that nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.

If the Trump administration were to use nuclear weapons on Iran, they would break an 80-year taboo; cause enormous amounts of death, injury and destruction; create “hibakusha,” or survivors, with long-term trauma and health effects; risk retaliation against the United States; provoke the possible use of nuclear weapons by other powers in their own wars; push countries without nuclear weapons to acquire them; threaten the United States’ alliances and bring about sanctions; and other consequences. The United States would essentially become a pariah state in a much more violent world.

The war against Iran raises additional notable nuclear risks, including:

• Could lead to nuclear proliferation, as it increases the likelihood that other governments may in the future seek to develop a nuclear arsenal as a security guarantor against the United States’ aggression.
• Risks purposeful or accidental damage or destruction to nuclear power plants — according to the International Atomic Energy Agency there have been four strikes worryingly close to nuclear power plants so far— which could cause long-term environmental damage and kill or sicken large numbers of civilians.

“Threats of indiscriminate violence are unacceptable, whether they come from nuclear or conventional weapons,” said Dr. Drozdenko. “As scientists, as members of our communities, and as Americans, we must join together to express our collective outrage and demand our elected officials step in to constrain the dangerous and illegal actions of the Trump administration.”

UCS is also issuing a call for action to its members across the United States, urging them to contact their congressional representatives and demand they rein in the Trump administration.