Former Gen. James Mattis said at his confirmation hearing to serve as the next U.S. secretary of defense that he regards the Iranian regime as the Middle East’s biggest destabilizing force.
The retired Marine general, chosen by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Defense, provided written responses to questions to the Senate Armed Services Committee, United Press International reported on Thursday. The 56-page document identified Mattis’ view of potential conflict spots around the world, and said of Iran’s regime: “Iranian malign influence in the region is growing.”
Mattis’ comments differ from the view of the outgoing administration of President Barack Obama that better relations with Tehran could be achieved, UPI wrote.
Without mentioning figures regarding troop strength, Mattis asserted that U.S. troops need to remain in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
“Our principal interest in Iraq is to ensure that it does not become a rump state of the regime in Tehran,” he wrote. “It will be essential to fold any efforts in Iraq following ISIS’s defeat in Mosul into an integrated regional strategy.”
He added that he sees Afghanistan as important to U.S. interests.
On Syria, Mattis offered a starker view than Obama’s or Trump’s, calling the situation a threat to U.S. security, according to the UPI. “The brutal civil war in Syria has destabilized the Middle East, contributed to the destabilization of Europe and threatened allies like Israel, Jordan and Turkey, all while ISIS, Iran and Russia have profited from the chaos, none of which has been in America’s national interest,” he wrote.