Republicans have wanted the US to go to war with Iran for years despite Trump's claims to the contrary

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

• Hawks in Washington, particularly on the right, have long pushed for more aggressive US action against Iran, including war with the Middle Eastern power. 
• While President Donald Trump campaigned on his "America First" talking points, he's taken a hostile approach to Iran over the last few years. 
• Republican lawmakers almost universally celebrated Trump's decision to assassinate Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the country's top military commander.
• There are a host of reasons why Iran hawks may have pushed Trump to escalate the conflict — and one consideration might be purely political. 
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Hawks in Washington, particularly on the right, have long pushed for more aggressive US action against Iran, including war with the Middle Eastern power. 

While President Donald Trump campaigned on his "America First" talking points, slamming the Iraq War as the "worst single mistake" in US history and promising Americans that he'd disentangle the country from seemingly never ending conflicts in the Middle East, he's taken an aggressive approach to Iran over the last three years. 

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SEE ALSO: World leaders largely condemn the deadly US drone strike on an Iranian general as a 'dangerous escalation,' while the UN says the move is likely unlawful

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