Hinson says she, rest of Congress watching closely what happens in the Middle East

MASON CITY — An Iranian official has warned that any United States involvement in their conflict with Israel “would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region”. The US has threatened a massive response to any attack on American troops, and President Trump on Tuesday in a social media post demanded unconditional surrender by Iran and warned Iran’s supreme leader that the US knows where he is hiding but there are no plans to kill him, at least for now.

North-central Iowa congresswoman Ashley Hinson says she and the rest of Congress are watching closely what happens in the Middle East. “I support Israel wholeheartedly and want to make sure they have the resources available to defend themselves. I think it’s in everybody’s interest, not just America’s interest, to deter conflict as much as possible. I’m hopeful that what President Trump is trying to do right now is showcase that peace through strength, by sending that message to the Ayatollah for example that we know where you are and we could but we’re not going to. I hope that gets them to the negotiating table because Iran can never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.”

Hinson says she doesn’t like the idea of sending US troops into battle. “We know we just had a large deployment of Iowa National Guard members. I went to several of those send-off ceremonies. I know their mission is to help try to keep peace in the Middle East. I’m hopeful we get to a point where Iran comes to the table, we’re able to negotiate so they don’t have a nuclear capacity, and then we are able to continue to enhance relationships in the regional like we’ve been doing with the Abraham Accords.”

Hinson made her comments while she was making a pair of stops in Mason City on Tuesday, getting tours and meeting employees at both Heidelberg Materials and Church & Dwight Company.