NCRI – Iran regime's nuclear program and its increased regional influence have replaced the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the main concern of governments in the Middle East, the Obama administration's chief envoy for the region said, the Washington Times reported on Friday.
Jeffrey D. Feltman, acting assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday during his confirmation hearing that the fears about Iran regime have become "the key development in the region"
"When you traveled around the [Middle East] five, six, seven years ago, almost everywhere you went, the first thing that came up was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Mr. Feltman said. "When you travel around today, what you are going to hear about is Iran."
He said the United States and other countries trying to bring Iran to the negotiating table regarding its nuclear program – Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – are still awaiting a response from Tehran. He reiterated the administration's goal of preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon.
He called Iran a "spoiler" in the pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace through its support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Lebanon's Hezbollah, the Washington Times added.
“We want to try to pursue some opportunities here, given the shared international and regional concern about Iranian practices,” he said.
Mr. Feltman was U.S. ambassador to Beirut during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. A career diplomat, he joined the Foreign Service in 1986 and has also served in Israel, Iraq, Hungary and Haiti.
