Washington, DC – Ryan Costello, Policy Director with the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement regarding U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s tweeted military threat toward Iran, which was followed by reports that negotiations between the U.S. and Iran – originally scheduled for Saturday – will be delayed:
“Trump entered office with a deficit of effective U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East, not a deficit of threats or bombing. Where the administration has led with diplomacy and sustained that focus, they’ve delivered some positive results. Where the administration has let bombs lead the way, like the Biden administration before them, we’ve seen security worsen and sustainable solutions move further from reach.
“If there was a military solution to security in Yemen, Saudi Arabia would have emerged victorious in its conflict a decade ago and the Biden administration would have halted the Houthis’ targeting of shipping in the Red Sea last year. Of course, there isn’t a military solution in Yemen, which makes it all the more befuddling that the Trump administration thinks it can bomb the Houthis into submission when this approach has been tried and failed repeatedly. Secretary Hegseth tweeting at Iran and threatening “CONSEQUENCE” for its ties with the Houthis won’t alter these dynamics, and risks leading the U.S. into far more damaging blowback against a more capable adversary.
“The U.S. and Iran need to resolve security challenges through diplomacy, not threats and military escalation. This is true on the nuclear issue, where we encourage the U.S. and Iran to return to negotiations as soon as possible. The pace that they have set on negotiations has been difficult to sustain, but not impossible. With sufficient will, the negotiations can reach the finish line and avert the risks of a disastrous war and Iranian weaponization of its nuclear program. Likewise, the U.S. should halt its backfiring bombing campaign in Yemen and find a way to bring all the relevant actors to the negotiating table – simultaneous with efforts to restore a ceasefire in Gaza that frees the remaining hostages and ensures urgent aid for the devastating humanitarian crisis on the ground.”
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