WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, delivered pointed opening remarks Tuesday at a full committee hearing titled “Arms Control and Transforming International Security Functions at the State Department,” warning that the ongoing U.S. war with Iran is depleting critical weapons stockpiles and undermining global security commitments.
Shaheen questioned Thomas DiNanno, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, about the state of U.S. munitions reserves and the administration’s strategy — or lack thereof — in the conflict with Iran, now nearly three weeks old.
“Last Thursday, almost three weeks into this war against Iran, the Administration pushed through more than $16 billion in arms sales to the Middle East, and they did that by using emergency authority to bypass normal Congressional review,” Shaheen said. “The United States is running through munitions as well here at home. In some cases, we have only about a quarter of the interceptors we need. I’ve been in briefings, and it is still not clear what the end goal of the war in Iran is. Without a clear end goal, we are making real tradeoffs about where our resources go.”
Shaheen warned that those resource tradeoffs are already having consequences for Ukraine, where U.S. support has grown less reliable even as Ukrainian forces continue to advance against Russian troops. She noted that according to Ukrainian officials, more than 80 percent of their strikes are now conducted by drones, reflecting a broader battlefield shift toward autonomous systems — one she said U.S. support is struggling to match.
“U.S. support has become less predictable, and allies are increasingly stepping in to purchase or backfill American-made arms,” Shaheen said. “The battlefield is moving toward autonomous systems and drone swarms. But unfortunately, the support that we have in the U.S. is not keeping pace.”
The senator also sounded the alarm over the deteriorating global arms control framework. With the New START treaty suspended, Russia expanding its nuclear capabilities and deploying tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus, and China constructing more than 300 new missile silos outside any arms control framework, Shaheen said the window for diplomatic progress is narrowing fast.
“Talks on future arms control arrangements have stalled,” she said. “China has consistently opposed joining such negotiations. In practice, that gives China an effective veto over progress that we could make with Russia and on other fronts. Waiting for perfect conditions while things are moving in the wrong direction is not a plan.”
Shaheen also referenced concerns among NATO partners that Russia may move against a NATO country within the next five years, and noted that Russia is testing new underwater nuclear systems that are increasingly difficult to track.
The senator closed her remarks by pressing DiNanno on a major reorganization of the Bureau of Arms Control and International Security, calling on him to explain what principles are guiding the bureau’s decisions in the current security environment.
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