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Financial Times
CommentaryFariborz S. Fatemi November 27, 2016Former Professional Staff MemberHouse Foreign Affairs CommitteeSenate Foreign Relations Committee
Trump must know from his buddies inRussia that his anti-Iran rhetoric and that of those around him is anon-starter. Remember all the nicethings he said about Putin and his campaign's reported conversations with theRussians during the election? Giuliani is a rabid, paid agent to speak hisnonsense and General Flynn knows the real "clear and present danger"to the region on one level is Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states that allowfunding of the terrorists and terrorism plaguing the Middle East. On another level it is Wahabbism, thebastardized version of Islam that the Saudi state promulgates throughout theMiddle East and elsewhere by its clerics and Madrasses (schools). This is the realfoundation of Al Qaeda, Daesh (ISIS), Al Nusrah, and the militant Lashkars inPakistan. Any student of the Middle East knows that Iran, with its 90 millionpopulation highly literate and sophisticated, sitting astride of East and West,is vital to bringing about stability and to America's national securityinterests in the region. President Obama, much to his credit, recognized thiswhen he took office and acted to end the 35 years of enmity between the US andIran. By being tough and resolute, butalways leaving the door open for cooperation, it culminated in theinternational nuclear agreement and a badly-needed opening. President-electTrump would be wise to build on the work of the Obama administration. Thelessons of the disastrous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan of the Bush years areplain. It would be a personal disaster for Trump and the US if he were toresort to starting another era of conflict in the Middle East.
A version of this appeared in the Boston Globe.