Iran Focus
London, 21 Sep – As Donald Trump prepared to speak out against the Iranian Regime and its nuclear deal in his address the United Nations General Assembly, on Tuesday, a non-governmental organization which also opposes the deal was holding its annual summit nearby.
United against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a bipartisan group chaired by former US Senator Joseph Lieberman, seeks to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
In his opening remarks to the summit, Lieberman praised the Trump administration for their actions so far on Iran, including the introduction of non-nuclear sanctions against the rogue state.
Middle East
While David Petraeus, a retired US Army General, and Prince Turki Al Faisal bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, chairman of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, both warned of the dangers of focusing all of America’s attention in the Middle East on terrorism, stating that it is also important to focus on the actions of regional governments like Iran.
Petraeus advised that the US should work with their allies in the Middle East in order to obtain peace, while Al Faisal warned that Iran’s growing control over the region, especially in Syria, will come back to haunt the international community.
Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, and Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico, warned that a foreign policy that put America First could ultimately lead to isolationism and in fact, help the threat of Iran grow.
Nuclear Threat
Bush and Richardson instead encouraged using the Iranian nuclear deal, which they were critical of, as leverage and expanding sanctions. Bush stated that one way to do this would be to expand sanctions across Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a whole, as opposed to targeting select members.
Senator Mark Kirk, Congressman Ron DeSantis, and former congressman Steve Israel, who all voted against the deal, took to the stage shortly after Trump’s UN speech was broadcast to support his tough talk on Iran.
Kirk said that he believed that Trump would not recertify Iran at the upcoming October deadline; a move that would allow Congress to impose nuclear sanctions against the Regime.
DeSantis and Israel noted that without a Democratic President, Iran sceptics within the Democratic Party may be more inclined to vote for Iran sanctions.
The summit was overwhelmingly in favour of Trump’s tough talk on Iran and hoped that it would turn into tough action soon in order to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
