Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders said Sunday night that the U.S. is not ready to re-open its embassy in Tehran, the capitol of Iran, despite the president’s deal with the Middle Eastern nation to roll back its nuclear weapons program.
“We are seeing a thaw” in relations with Iran, Sanders said. But “can I tell you that we should open an embassy in Tehran tomorrow? No, I don’t think we should,” he said.
He was asked by the NBC moderators if it was time for the U.S. to move to normalize relations with the Islamic Republic.
“I think we have to move as aggressively as we can to normalize relations with Iran, understanding that Iran’s behavior in so many ways is something that we disagree with,” Sanders said.
He said Iran’s record on terrorism is something that needs to be questioned, as well as anti-American rhetoric coming from Iran’s leadership before bolder moves toward restoring relations can be made.
The questions were raised after Saturday’s news that Iran began implementing President Obama’s deal to scrap the nation’s ability to make a nuclear bomb, and released four U.S. prisoners.
