President Obama’s recent comments comparing Republicans to Iranian hardliners who chant “death to America” is “offensive” and “over the top,” Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass said Monday during an MSNBC interview.
“The White House has been trying to delegitimize opposition to the Iran agreement. I find that offensive,” he said during a roundtable discussion on the White House’s efforts to strike a nuclear agreement with Tehran. The president and his allies have also suggested repeatedly that opponents of the deal would prefer a war with Iran.
Haass’ comments came shortly after Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told the Obama administration he would oppose the deal. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough found himself agreeing with Haass.
“Even if he [Schumer] came out on the other side of the bill, it is deeply, deeply offensive suggesting that a call this close for people who have supported not only Israel but the defense of this nation, and legitimately believe it puts our nation and allies at risk — to delegitimize him this way is pretty stunning,” Scarborough said.
Obama said during an address last week at American University in Washington, D.C., that Iran’s “death to America” crowd, which includes “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, does not speak for everyone in the Middle Eastern country.
He also said Republicans share “common cause” with Iranian “hardliners” in their opposition to the nuclear deal.
“Just because Iranian hardliners chant ‘Death to America’ does not mean that’s what all Iranians believe,” Obama said. “In fact, it’s those hardliners who are most comfortable with the status quo. It’s those hardliners chanting ‘Death to America’ who have been most opposed to the deal. They are making a common cause with the Republican caucus.”
Despite a fair amount of criticism, the president has stood by his comparison.
“What I said is absolutely true, factually,” he said in a CNN interview that aired Sunday. “The truth of the matter is, inside of Iran, the people most opposed to the deal are the Revolutionary Guard, the Quds Force, hardliners who are implacably opposed to any cooperation with the international community.”
The president added, “The reason that [Senate Majority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.] and the rest of the folks in his caucus who opposed this jumped out and opposed this before they even read it, before it was even posted, is reflective of an ideological commitment not to get a deal done.”
Obama’s assurances aside, criticism for his remarks continued Monday.
“It’s over the top,” Haass said. “This president gave the greatest speech, I would think, of his presidency at Charleston six weeks ago. Six weeks later he gave the smallest speech of his presidency at American University. It has been an interesting time.”
He warned that whatever nuclear deal comes out of the White House’s negotiations with Iran will carry long-term ramifications for future world leaders.
“This is going to be a major national security challenge for decades to deal not just with Iran and its future nuclear capabilities but that of several neighbors,” Haass said. “This will be front and center for not just this president and his successor but his successor’s successor.”
The current deal being negotiated by the Obama administration would see economic sanctions lifted on Iran in return for limitations on Iran’s nuclear program, although critics say those limitations aren’t nearly enough, and that the deal foresees a lifting of the United Nations’ arms embargo against Iran after five years, or possibly sooner.
