Facing up to Iran
July 10, 2017
After eight years of Barack Obama‘s strategy of “patience” towards Iran, the Trump administration on Iran is basically inverting Obama’s foreign policy.
On June 30, 2017, several prominent figures gave their opinions on the current situation during a panel discussion reviewng U.S. policy on Iran.
Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, former Assistant Secretary of State for Military Affairs, moderated the discussion and was joined by John Baird, former Foreign Minister of Canada, Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Senator and vice-presidential candidate, Ambassador Robert Joseph, United States Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation and the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security until 2007, Rtd. General Jack Keane, former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, and Bruno Tertrais, Deputy Director of the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique of France.
John Baird kicked off the discussion saying that he completely rejects the Obama administration’s appeasement of Iran and his claims that President Rouhani is a moderate. He said that there is no moderation in the Iranian government and it was very naïve of Obama to make such claims. He also pointed to the recent presidential elections in Iran, which were anything but democratic. He questioned how an election can be considered democratic when a panel exists to approve and reject candidates. There is nothing democratic about an election in which presidential candidates are only candidates because of their strong allegiance to the Supreme Leader and his vision.
On June 30, 2017, several prominent figures gave their opinions on the current situation during a panel discussion reviewng U.S. policy on Iran.
Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield, former Assistant Secretary of State for Military Affairs, moderated the discussion and was joined by John Baird, former Foreign Minister of Canada, Joseph Lieberman, former U.S. Senator and vice-presidential candidate, Ambassador Robert Joseph, United States Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation and the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security until 2007, Rtd. General Jack Keane, former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, and Bruno Tertrais, Deputy Director of the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique of France.
John Baird kicked off the discussion saying that he completely rejects the Obama administration’s appeasement of Iran and his claims that President Rouhani is a moderate. He said that there is no moderation in the Iranian government and it was very naïve of Obama to make such claims. He also pointed to the recent presidential elections in Iran, which were anything but democratic. He questioned how an election can be considered democratic when a panel exists to approve and reject candidates. There is nothing democratic about an election in which presidential candidates are only candidates because of their strong allegiance to the Supreme Leader and his vision.
No comments:
Post a Comment