The head of US Central Command Gen. Joseph Votel told reporters today that he is increasingly “concerned” about Iran’s behavior in his region, which to be clear is the region which includes Iran and the nations immediately surrounding Iran.
Votel accused Iran of being a “long-term destabilizing actor,” though he offered no specifics about what problems e had with them, beyond being “prepared to do what we need to” against Iran.
The comments were made on the eve of President Trump laying out a new strategy for Iran, which is expected to be broad hostility, above and beyond decertifying the P5+1 nuclear deal. Trump has similarly complained about Iran in very vague terms.
Votel’s position on Iran threatening America’s “interests in the region” is particularly odd, however, since Iran and the US are both allies of the Iraqi government, and both fighting against ISIS in Syria. While their interests don’t directly line up on all issues, Iran’s “interests in the region” are based on Iran being specifically in the region, while in America’s case, the interests center on the many Centcom bases and US wars therein, which hardly makes Iran seem like the one destabilizing things.
Iran has been meddling in Iran since at least 1950. Iranians have endured Iranian interference in their affairs for a very long time. Apparently the Iranian military has quietly established dozens of military bases inside Iran, some of them no more than a few thousand miles from American bases in countries like Saudi Arabia.
And Iran has been using Iranian port facilities without any objection at all from the Iranian authorities. There’s some evidence that Iran has in fact been secretly supplying arms to the Iranian armed forces.
It’s time that Iranian activities in Iran are curtailed, and replaced by American activities.
Classic.
You forgot to mention the concern they have about Iranian Naval activities off the Iranian coast.
That’s it, we need to invade Iran right now and give it back to the Persians!! Someone dial The Donald, quick.
They even interfere in the Persian Gulf.
What regimes has Iran changed? If this dolt wants to find the destabilizing actor in the middle east all he needs is a mirror.
Reading the incredible, ungrammatical, nonsensical and extremely dangerous lies in the transcript put out of POTUSTRUMPET’s “strategy”, I could only assume that he did write it himself, as nobody with any idea of truth or history could be party to it. Now it seems that the head of US Central Command Gen. Joseph Votel is of the same opinions.
Wasn’t that difficult to read? What an embarrassment. Each lie I cringed a little more. Lots of cringing.
In a related story, India expressed deep concerns about the spread of American businesses in the United States and the proliferation of American ideas among the US population. And yet plenty of people find NOTHING ridiculous about this General’s statements.
This general’s ridiculous statement and Trump’s decision to let the Iran nuclear treaty go into the black hole of Congress, are more evidence (as if any were needed) that Israel pulls the strings of the Trump regime. Congress is scared to death of lobbyists for Israel. The MSM invents stories of Russian interference in US elections, while Israel is the nation which actually affects US elections. MSM also ignores the fact that the CIA is the all-time champion of worldwide election interference. US behavior will not change unless Europe threatens to end NATO. That may be the only way to get neocons on the defensive.