Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum among GOP candidates taking anti-Iranian hardline
The Republican presidential candidates are urging the use of force, sanctions, and even friendship to deter Iran, after the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report saying it had credible information the nation was developing nuclear weapons.
“To convince Iran to end its nuclear program peacefully, I call on President Obama to impose crippling economic sanctions on the Iranian regime, support the Iranian dissidents, and convey through actions – not just words – that the military option is very real and very credible,’’ former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney said in a statement.
Rick Santorum – who as a Pennsylvania senator was a leader on Iran-related issues – said in a statement: “The clear evidence of Iran’s mounting nuclear capability, coupled with Iran’s stated desire to destroy Israel, is staring us in the face. Now is the time to acknowledge, address, and eliminate the threat.’’
Santorum will expand upon his Iran policy agenda in a speech tomorrow afternoon in New Boston, N.H. Like Romney, he is expected to criticize Obama for not taking Iran seriously enough.
Texas Governor Rick Perry joined the call for keeping all options open, including the use of force, to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
“We must revisit the options President Obama has taken off the table, including tough sanctions on the Iranian Central Bank,’’ Perry said today in a statement. “To protect the vital US interests at stake, a responsible commander in chief must be prepared in a worst-case scenario to use military force to destroy key Iranian nuclear sites.’’
Perry said the US should support dissident groups in Iran and Syria.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog agency report yesterday said it had “serious concerns’’ about possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program. A US State Department spokeswoman told CNN the administration was still reviewing the report.
But the Republicans wasted no time taking a hard line against Iran.
Romney, who has throughout his campaign emphasized the importance of a strong military, said he would keep the option of military force on the table.
He would retain aircraft carriers already in the region and work with allies to create a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. He would increase military cooperation with Israel and America’s Arab allies.
Romney also pledged to expand the use of sanctions, including on Iran’s petroleum industry.
The GOP frontrunner warned that a nuclear-armed Iran “will tilt the entire geostrategic landscape of the Middle East toward the ayatollahs, pose an existential threat to Israel, endanger Europe, and eventually endanger the continental United States.’’
The candidate with the most lengthy record on Iran is Santorum, a former member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
In 2004, he wrote legislation supporting regime change in Iran, and providing assistance for pro-democracy opposition groups. A year later, he sponsored legislation that strengthened sanctions against Iran, in an attempt to prevent Iran from developing weapons of mass destruction.
Neither bill passed, but Santorum achieved his aims in 2006, when President George W. Bush signed a law codifying sanctions against Iran, putting sanctions on anyone helping Iran develop weapons of mass destruction, and authorizing the president to support groups opposing the Iranian government.
At a town hall meeting in Raymond, N.H. yesterday, Santorum said he opposed the Bush’s administration’s attempts to negotiate with Iran.
“I said, ‘Stop negotiating with Iran, start confronting them with the nuclear weapon system they’re developing, and help the people in Iran who want to overthrow that government,’’’ the former senator recalled.
Romney, Santorum, and Perry’s views are consistent with those taken by most of the other Republican presidential candidates.
Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said on ABC’s “This Week’’ on Oct. 30 that she would use “everything at our disposal’’ to ensure Iran does not get a nuclear weapon.
Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who has urged the U.S. to back off from many of its foreign entanglements, said in an Oct. 10 speech, “I cannot live with a nuclear-armed Iran. If you want an example of when I would use American force, it would be that.’’
The one dissenting voice is Representative Ron Paul of Texas, who has traditionally held a non-interventionist philosophy.
Paul, on “Fox News Sunday’’ this week, warned against overreaction to the report, and insisted that Iran is not a credible threat to the US.
Paul said he opposes sanctions and the use of force and would instead “offer friendship’’ to Iran.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com