During an interview with ABC News released on Monday, Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed responded to a question on whether he will condemn Iran’s current regime by stating that “this idea of like, condemn or not condemn” is “kind of an odd approach. I condemned the genocide that Israel has done. I condemned the apartheid, too. I condemned the attack on democracy that Iran has done. But we engage with actors in a world where you kind of have to figure out how to make peace with people you disagree with.” And “I would like us to make peace with Iran, like President Obama did. I would like us to figure out how to stop subsidizing genocide and apartheid in other places.”
Host Linsey Davis asked, “[F]or those who do want to hear, do you condemn the current Iranian regime? What do you say?”
El-Sayed responded, “They’ve engaged in horrific acts. There’s no question about that. I am for democracy. I’m for human rights. It’s what I want for our people. It’s what I want for all people, right? And there’s no question that that regime has engaged in acts that are terrible. Like, that’s not an open question, right? But the big picture question is not — like, for us is, what’s in our best interest? Go back to the Obama administration. They had negotiated a JCPOA that had created a space within which we had contained the nuclear threat and we are on a pathway to more peace. That is a good thing. We want that, right? And now, we find ourselves in a situation where, after two Trump terms, we have torn apart the JCPOA, and now we’re fighting a war. So, yes, are we in active war against Iran? Yes. Are they an enemy combatant in this war? Yes. Should we be here, is that actually where we want our public policy to go? And now you want me to, like, answer a question within the context of this current war, but the bigger, better question we should have asked is, what should we have done here? We should not have torn up the JCPOA. We were in a position for nuclear containment, and we were in a position of peace. We should not have gone to war in the first place. We didn’t have clear war aims. They told us that this was about regime change, then they told us that this was about securing the nuclear threat, then they told us that this was about protecting the Strait of Hormuz. We have accomplished nothing.”
Davis followed up, “But, in fairness, just to the question, if it’s yes or no, you do condemn the current Iranian regime?”
El-Sayed responded, “I condemn a lot of their action. But if you want a pathway to peace with folks, you’re going to have to figure out how to get to a position of peace. I condemn, like, the Saudi human rights abuses, too. But that’s not a question you’re asking me. So, I’m just saying that, like, there are a lot of condemnable things that a lot of foreign governments have done. But the question for us has to be, how do we promote our values, and how do we do that in a way, while we’re also promoting peace? And I just think this idea of like, condemn or not condemn, right? Is kind of an odd approach. I condemned the genocide that Israel has done. I condemned the apartheid, too. I condemned the attack on democracy that Iran has done. But we engage with actors in a world where you kind of have to figure out how to make peace with people you disagree with. That’s what diplomacy’s about. And so, the question of condemning and not condemning is actually secondary to the question of how should we get to a pathway to peace? I would like us to make peace with Iran, like President Obama did. I would like us to figure out how to stop subsidizing genocide and apartheid in other places. I would like us to figure out how to stop, maybe, making deals with countries like Saudi Arabia, right? Or the UAE, who are doing genocide in Sudan. I would like us to actually promote our values. So, I would like us to get past the conversation of, like, do you condemn, do you not condemn? Can we actually, objectively ask what our values are? We want to promote democracy all over the world.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
