Alan Dershowitz: There's a World of Difference Between Trump and Obama on Iran
Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz noted the stark difference between President Donald Trump’s handling of Iran versus how his Democrat predecessor dealt with the Islamic republic.
Dershowitz — who has historically been a strong supporter of the Democrat Party — said Monday in a “Fox and Friends” interview that former President Barack Obama emboldened Iranian leaders with a failed strategy to curb their nuclear development.
“President Obama made it clear that he was going to stand behind the Iranian regime,” Dershowitz said.
“He was going to send them lots and lots of money. Of course some of it was their own money, but still they used it to foment terrorism, to export terrorism around the world.”
He contrasted Obama’s knack for appeasement to what the current White House is doing to rein in on the rouge regime — a policy of no tolerance.
“I think President Trump has indicated that he will not stand behind the Iranian regime. The Iranian regime is failing. The people there are hungry despite the infusion of cash,” the retired law professor said.
The conversation quickly pivoted to the growing crisis in Iran, where citizens from across the country have taken to the streets in a mass demonstration to protest the government. The grievances, which began mostly around economic issues, have since morphed into an overall critique of the Iranian regime, with many citizens demanding democratic reforms and women’s rights.
The public demonstrations, which have gone on for several days, have been the biggest mass protests in the country since the 2009 Green Movement.
However, Dershowitz — who has written extensively about Middle East politics over the years — stated that there is only so much the U.S. can do during this pivotal moment in Iran’s history.
“But this is something that will happen in Iran. The United States will only be able to have a limited role and hopefully it will be a positive role,” he said.
Dershowitz believes Iran is ripe for democratic reforms, something many people in the Islamic republic want.
“I think the president can also try to engender international support for the real people of Iran. Look, Iran is the most secular, democratically-oriented group of people in the Middle East. They have been repressed for so many years by the Ayatollahs,” he said.
“If they had their wishes, if they had a genuine election, they would overthrow this regime of religious thugs and substitute a real democracy. They’ve never had a real democracy, but they had the Shah and the Shah was a lot better for America than the Ayatollahs.”
Dershowitz is by far not the only one calling for reforms.
Amid the protests, Trump took to social media to warn Iranian leaders that the world is watching — while also knocking Obama for the 2015 Iran deal that sent billions of U.S. dollars to the regime.
Recent days have not been too kind to the Obama administration.
The Iran deal was meant to bolster the Iranian people, infusing the cash-strapped economy with billions of dollars in aid and repealing numerous sanctions. With so many Iranian citizens taking to the streets to protest their dire economic situation, it appears that the 2015 deal did not do much to help the people — or to curb the development of Iranian nuclear capabilities.
A recent bombshell investigation by Politico revealed that as the U.S. was in negotiations with Iran, officials within the Obama administration actively sought to block a crackdown of Hezbollah’s international drug trade — all in an effort to not offend the Iranians.
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