NCRI – Iran is the ‘most dangerous nation on the face of the Earth’ and negotiating with the regime will ultimately never work, former US presidential candidate Howard Dean has said.
The dictatorship in Tehran only agrees to dialogue to delay tougher action by democratic nations and to continue with its nuclear weapons program, he told the BBC’s World Service radio this week.
And he warned that if Iran succeeded in obtaining nuclear bombs, the US would respond with military action.
The former chairman of the US Democratic Party told listeners: “Talking with Iran in the past has provided absolutely nothing. So while I am always willing to talk, I think we have to assume that they are only going to talk mischieviously as they have in the past.”
Mr Dean said he was ‘skeptical’ of former US vice-president Joe Biden’s willingness to hold continued dialogue with the extremist mullahs running the country.
He added: “I think ultimately Mr Biden would agree that regime change is absolutely necessary. This is religious dictatorship; it killed hundreds of thousands of people. They are certainly not going to change their stripes.
“So again I never opposed talking, but it would be a terrible mistake to talk and ease up on them at the same time because we know that doesn’t work.”
Britain’s wartime prime minister proved ‘you cannot appease dictators’, Mr Dean said.
He told the BBC: “I am skeptical that talking with Iran could produce anything. It hasn’t worked in the past. They continue to work on nuclear bombs.
“I wouldn’t contradict the vice-president of the US but I am very skeptical it would work.
“In the long run, anything that leaves this regime and this dictatorship in place is bad for the Iranian people and is very bad for the world.
“These people are sponsoring terrorism everywhere. They killed thousands of American and hundreds of thousands of their own people. I do believe that at some point you have to talk to your enemy, and make no mistake, they are our enemy.”
Asked why Iran agrees to engage in dialogue with the US, Mr Dean said: “Iran may engage in talks if you ask them, but once again this postpones action so that they can continue to work on nuclear weapons.
“That is why I believe if the vice-president wants to engage in talks, I have no objection as long as the sanctions are tightened instead of weakened. I don’t want any loosening of sanctions while they talk because that exactly what the Iranians are hoping.”
The most vital immediate change needed in Iran was abandoning nuclear weapons and allowing full inspections, Mr Dean said.
He continued: “That is the bottom line. There is no point in talking if they don’t agree to that. There is nothing to talk about.
“Ultimately of course I would like to see free elections in Iran. I would like to see a constitution where the rights of women are protected and where there is religious freedom.”
“Our purpose is to make sure that Iran does not get the bomb and that Iran becomes a democratic society.”
Mr Dean said he recalled how the Arab Spring even reached in Iran in 2009 but it was ‘brutally supressed’ with the murder of tens of thousands of people.
He added: “Other than North Korea, this regime is the most anti-human rights in the world. This is the most dangerous country in the face of the earth and the most dangerous government, and it is an illegitimate government.”
Mr Dean agreed there was evidence to support Iranian resistance president Maryam Rajavi’s belief that the Iranian regime was on the verge of collapse.
He said: “There are some knowledgeable people who said that as well. I don’t think it is for us to decide that it is in its last day. Who knows?
“But we have to be prepared for different government in Iran. We have to do what we can without engaging in military action. The problem is that if Iran develops nuclear weapons, the US will respond with military action.”
