Donald Trump said Iran is the dominant Islamic power in the Middle East and is on the road to nuclear weapons because of Hillary Clinton, a signal that Israel and Middle East policy will be at the forefront of an increasingly bitter campaign.
The Israel and Iran citations in the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s major speech on June 22 echoed similar attacks by Clinton on Trump two weeks ago.
Like Clinton, Trump said he would be better for Israel. He said Clinton was corrupted by donations from the Muslim and Arab world to her husband’s charitable foundation, although at least one instance he cited as a gift to Clinton — $58,000 in jewelry from Brunei — was, according to the New York Times, a gift to the State Department and not for Clinton’s use.
Describing the world in 2009 at the outset of Barack Obama’s presidency and Clinton’s stint as secretary of state, he said: “Iran was being choked by sanctions.” Now, he said, “Thanks to Hillary Clinton, Iran is now the dominant Islamic power in the Middle East, and on the road to nuclear weapons.”
The sanctions in place in 2009 were not keeping Iran from advances in its suspected nuclear weapons program. Tougher sanctions in 2010, introduced under Obama, are believed to be what led Iran to negotiate the sanctions relief for nuclear rollback deal with six major powers.
Critics, led by Israeli Prime Benjamin Netanyahu and congressional Republicans, have said the deal does not go far enough. All acknowledge that it has nonetheless set back Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons ambitions by at least 10 years.
Clinton has taken credit for laying the groundwork for the deal, although she has also hinted it could use tougher implementation.
Three weeks ago, Clinton cited Trump’s pledge early in the primaries to be neutral on Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking in order to bash him on Israel.
“It is no small thing when he talks about leaving NATO, or says he’ll stay neutral on Israel’s security,” she said on June 2 in San Diego. Trump has since walked back his remarks on “neutrality” and said he would favor Israel in Middle East policy.
“The world must understand that the United States will act decisively if necessary, including with military action, to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” Clinton said then. “In particular, Israel’s security is non-negotiable. They’re our closest ally in the region, and we have a moral obligation to defend them.” — jta