Washington D.C. – Jamal Abdi, President of the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement reacting to Donald Trump’s speech at the United Nations where he touted U.S. involvement in the war between Iran and Israel in June
“Donald Trump’s speech at the United Nations framed Iran as a ‘problem solved’ via American military force, but ultimately ignored the growing risk of another outbreak of war and may move it closer to reality.
“This week is a critical moment for relations toward Iran as a dangerous escalatory cycle locks in with the ‘snapback’ of UN sanctions. Diplomatic intervention – specifically, bilaterally between the U.S. and Iran – is urgently needed to resolve this impasse and keep the Iran nuclear crisis, and Netanyahu’s desire to topple Iran with Trump’s support, from bringing the U.S. into a dangerous war.
“Rather than put forward an olive branch, President Trump took a largely dismissive and hawkish tone toward Iran that may only fuel a defiantly nationalist response in Iran at a critical moment for diplomatic prospects. Likewise, initial Iranian remarks have been unhelpful, seeming to reject the notion of direct negotiations with the U.S. at a time when they are urgently needed.
“There are no military solutions to security challenges posed by Iran, including its nuclear program. Likewise, Iran’s security dilemmas cannot be resolved by resistance and missiles alone. Already, hawks in and aligned with Israel are making the case for another, deeper war. In his speech, Trump cast the U.S. as the indispensable military actor vis-a-vis Iran. Israel agrees, which is why their government worked to bring the U.S. into the war and why they would do so again.
“There is still time to avert the disaster of another war that would kill many innocents, but it is running out. Trump must work to undo much of the damage from the June war in order to salvage diplomatic prospects throughout the rest of his term in office. Failure to do so may doom him to the messy Iran war he seems to think he has avoided.”