U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for beating drums of war against Iran, urging the White House to “back off from a perpetual war”.

“The United States, frankly, has been involved in too many wars in the last twenty years. And, I think it’s time to back off and not have a perpetual war,” he told Geo News in an interview published on Saturday.

He also called assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani “an ill-advised action”. 

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a resolution limiting Trump’s ability to make war on Iran.

The Democratic-controlled House voted 224 to 194, mostly along party lines, sending the war powers resolution to the Senate. The partisan vote reflected the deep divide in Congress over Trump’s Iran policy and how much of a say lawmakers should have over the use of the military, France 24 reported on January 10.

“The president has to make the case first, first, not after he launches an ill-advised attack and then comes up with a reason why it was necessary and why it was legal,” France 24 quoted Engel as saying, referring to Soleimani’s assassination.

General Soleimani was assassinated in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad on January 3.

In a retaliatory move, Iran fired dozens of ballistic missiles at a major U.S. military base in Iraq on January 8.

Top Iranian political and military figures had vowed “harsh revenge” for the martyrdom of General Soleimani.

Ayatollah Khamenei said on January 8 that such military actions are not enough and the U.S. forces must leave the region.

“The issue of revenge is another issue… The United States’ corruptive presence in the region must come to an end. They have brought war, sedition, destruction, and also the destruction of infrastructures to the region,” he stated.

The Leader also described the assassination of Soleimani as a cowardly act that brought disgrace upon the U.S.

Analysts called the U.S. assassiantion of the top general as an act of war against Iran.

NA/PA