{"id":3284,"date":"2026-04-07T21:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T01:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vr-news.net\/?p=3284"},"modified":"2026-04-07T21:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T01:00:08","slug":"congress-must-restrain-the-trump-administration-from-nuclear-weapons-first-use-says-union-of-concerned-scientists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vr-news.net\/?p=3284","title":{"rendered":"Congress Must Restrain the Trump Administration from Nuclear Weapons First Use, Says Union of Concerned Scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Donald Trump\u2019s and his administration\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n

Communications Officer Food & Environment, Global Security jblatt@ucs.org<\/a> 510-809-1578<\/a> <\/p>\n

This morning, President Trump issued this bleak threat<\/a>: \u201cA whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back\u201d unless Iran cedes to his demands, and Vice President Vance intimated<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump actively chose to discard diplomatic solutions and pursue an illegal war of aggression<\/a> against Iran, with unclear and shifting aims,\u201d said Dr. Tara Drozdenko<\/a>, director of the Global Security Program at UCS. \u201cNow 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongress should intervene today to rein in this illegal conflict<\/a>, making it clear that what the president and vice president are suggesting is beyond the pale\u2014defying both international law and common sense. This means passing a law restricting the United States from using nuclear weapons first in any circumstance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/a> to do so have been proposed in the past.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> that use and threats of nuclear use are inadmissible, and the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council \u2013 China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States \u2013 reaffirmed<\/a> that nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.<\/p>\n

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 \u201chibakusha,\u201d<\/a> or survivors, with long-term trauma and health effects<\/a>; 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\u2019 alliances and bring about sanctions; and other consequences. The United States would essentially become a pariah state in a much more violent world.<\/p>\n

The war against Iran raises additional notable nuclear risks, including:<\/p>\n