WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined MSNBC’s Morning Joe to discuss Iran.
“I think there's a chance that Iran would welcome going back to the table rather than taking us on in a military confrontation. But the time for doing that and doing that successfully is running out,” said Senator Coons.
“I'm very concerned about the damage that's being done to alliances that have kept us prosperous and secure for seven decades. In visits I have made overseas on different delegations, when I have had the opportunity to meet with foreign leaders, with foreign ministers, they always raise concerns about how our unconventional president is straining our alliances,” said Senator Coons.
Audio and video available here.
Excerpts from the interview:
Where do we stand with Iran? Have we overplayed our hand?
Senator Coons: President Trump tore up the deal soon after becoming president and he promised a better, stronger deal. I'll remind you that only by working closely with our allies over many years was the Obama/Biden administration able to get a deal that put Iran's nuclear program in a box and got in place comprehensive inspections. I think our best path forward is to get back into negotiations with Iran and to put in place a broader, tougher, stronger deal. But so far, I don't see any movement by the Trump administration to do that. And I'm concerned that without a clear strategy they're steadily sliding towards a military confrontation with Iran.
Re Iran: What’s your sense of the diplomatic options at this point?
Senator Coons: One of the challenges is that this administration has put more and more distance between us and our vital European allies, but I think frankly it's in all of our interests to get back to the table and to get Iran's nuclear program in to a tougher, stronger, longer lasting box as well as their ballistic missile program. Because of tough sanctions that are having a bite on Iran's very dangerous regime, I think there's a chance that Iran would welcome going back to the table rather than taking us on in a military confrontation. But the time for doing that and doing that successfully is running out.
It seems to some that the Iranians are basically ratcheting up the deal every day. We'll do this today, we'll do this tomorrow. You know, just to put the Europeans in a position where they say, oh, okay, we'll help you out. But there are others -- many people who think that's never going to happen. What happens then?
Senator Coons: I think at that point we face a difficult choice. And a choice that we ought to be confronting in concert with our allies. Because they're also going to need to come back.
Are the Europeans still our allies?
Senator Coons: They are, but I think one of the most striking moments for me over the past years was hearing Chancellor Angela Merkel say that the United States is no longer a reliable ally. That was a striking moment and frankly the abrupt and justified departure from the administration of Secretary of Defense, Jim Mattis, his resignation letter should have been a wake-up call to everybody who is paying attention to the importance of our allies, because he left the administration frankly because of the way in which President Trump abruptly announced a dramatic change in policy on Syria without consulting the allies who were prosecuting that war alongside us.
What do you think about where the allies stand on us, the U.S.?
Senator Coons: Well, I'm very concerned about the damage that's being done to alliances that have kept us prosperous and secure for seven decades. In visits I have made overseas on different delegations, when I have had the opportunity to meet with foreign leaders, with foreign ministers, they always raise concerns about how our unconventional president is straining our alliances. It's not inappropriate for him to be -- for President Trump -- to have raised issues like contributions to NATO or the cost of our troop deployments overseas. But it is profoundly alarming when he does things like his abrupt announcement of an intention to withdraw our troops from Syria when we're in the middle of combat operations against ISIS, alongside our allies, with our long term and trusted allies like the United Kingdom and France. He has done and said a number of things that are not only unconventional for a president but profoundly destabilizing.
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