Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Sunday promised to keep the military option on the table and act forcefully should Iran breach the terms of the nuclear deal.
During an appearance at the Saban Forum in DC, Hillary said, “there will have to be consequences for any violation by Iran, and that the ‘nuclear option’ should not at all be taken off the table.” Hillary then corrected it to say she meant the “military option” after she was pointed out by Justice Stephen Gerald Breyer, adjusting her line (with a nervous smile) to say, “The military option would not be taken off the table with respect to their military program.”
“I supported the nuclear agreement. I started the effort — I mean, those of you who remember that when I ran in 2008 I said that I wanted the world to impose crippling sanctions on Iran — and when I became Secretary of State what we learned was that Iran – and now the IAEA has confirmed this – has taken considerable steps toward a nuclear weapons program,” Hillary recalled as she explained her position on Iran. “I voted for every sanction that was ever presented to the Congress… But it became clear that if we didn’t persuade the rest of the world, we were not going to impose the kind of cost on Iran that would be needed for any sort of negotiation.”
“I believe that putting a lid on Iran’s nuclear weapons program is very much in the U.S. interest, very much in Israel’s interest and very much in the world’s interest,” the former Secretary of State continued. “I think we have put that lid on. But I have every reason to believe the Iranians are going to test it, they are going to violate it, and they’re going to be provocative about it. And we need to respond quickly and very harshly.”
Hillary stressed that if the U.S. obtains any evidence that the Iranians are back into developing a nuclear weapon, “We will have to act even more directly.” Adding that the administration has to demonstrate from the beginning that it will not get away with it “because they are going to test, it’s just their nature. They will test us and we have to stop them.”
The Democratic presidential frontrunner also highlighted the issues the U.S. and the world must address in the aftermath of the agreement, including Iran’s sponsoring of terror. “I, personally, will feel much better being president and dealing with those issues if we can keep the lid on their nuclear program,” she asserted.
