Sen. Rand Paul Warns that Sanctions Back Iran into a Corner, Proposes Making an Offer, Instead

June 25, 2019 (EIRNS)—Sen. Rand Paul yesterday added a word of caution to his enthusiastic support for President Donald Trump’s action as a “statesman” in showing restraint in not striking Iran militarily, “seeking to end wars and not start new ones.” The new sanctions which the President imposed on Iran yesterday, however, are backing Iran into corner—and that’s dangerous, he warned in an evening interview with Fox News.

The Iranians see sanctions as an act of war, especially cutting off all their oil sales to the East, he argued. We’ve put their back against the wall, and their only choice is to say “we give up,” or to go to military action, and we are more likely to get the latter.

Paul continued, that the problem is that we walked out of a deal we had negotiated (e.g., the JCPOA), so they see us as acting in bad faith. And the Obama Administration made the mistake of giving Iran the “carrot” of that deal—the $150 billion—up front, leaving the U.S. with no carrots left in its negotiating pocket, only sticks. Paul said he would not have pulled out of the JCPOA, but instead built upon it to get the additional ballistic missile agreement needed, for which, he said, a similarballistic missile agreement with Saudi Arabia would be required, in order for Iran to give up their missiles.

We have to give them some carrot for containment, he insisted. Therefore, we should let go of the additional sanctions on their sale of oil to the East, as that carrot for negotiations. Without something, they are not going to come to the table.

Yes, we have the ability to obliterate Iran, he said. But what would come out of that? Chaos that breeds terrorism, struggle, civil war; chaos and famine.