US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal has “empowered the most complicated, difficult forces in Iran,” Kerry said at the Council on Foreign Relations on Friday.
Kerry led diplomatic efforts that resulted in the 2015 nuclear agreement. Recalling what he went through to open discussions with Iran, he said Ayatollah Khamenei was “dead set” against negotiations with the US and talk were only achieved through enormous diplomatic efforts.
He praised Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s determination to “move the country in a different direction, trying to reach out to the world, change the dynamics…”
Talks began quietly about issues like Iran’s missiles, support for Hezbollah, activities in Iraq, and Tehran made some quiet changes behind the scenes, Kerry said.
Faced with the prospect of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon in a matter of months, the policy of then-President Barack Obama’s administration was to try diplomacy.
“And guess what? We took Iran from two months away from having a nuclear weapon to more than a year of breakout time,” said Kerry.
“This is the single strongest, most far-reaching, transparent agreement on the face of the planet. And he’s just walking away,” he said of Trump’s decision in May to withdraw from the deal.
Trump has called the nuclear agreement the worst ever and says he favours something that is broader, going beyond the nuclear issue to include ballistic missiles and Tehran’s regional influence.
Kerry argued that the smarter policy was to build a relationship and discuss those issues with a nuclear-free Iran. Instead, Trump has handed power over to the hardliners who opposed talks with the US.
“What Trump has done is now empower the guys in Iran who said ‘don’t deal with the US, they’ll burn you,’” he said.
In the future, if there is an “implosion” in Iran, it will be the IRGC or another hardliner who will take over, Kerry warned, “and we will be worse off and the people of Iran will be worse off.”
The risk of conflict will be more likely, he added, pointing out that late Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had all favoured bombing Iran.
The deputy commander of the IRGC warned Netanyahu on Friday that he will be forced out of Israel.
Brigadier-General Hossein Salami told Netanyahu to “practice swimming in the Mediterranean because soon you will have no choice, but to flee into the sea," Fars news reported.
from Rudaw https://ift.tt/2BYhNCs
via Defense News
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