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Secretary Ridge Speaks on Iran at National Press Club
On June 12, 2007, Tom Ridge spoke at the National Press Club regarding the recently released Taking on Tehran: Strategies for Confronting the Islamic Republic. The First Secretary of Homeland Security wrote the forward for the book, which was edited by Ilan Berman, Vice President for Policy at the American Foreign Policy Council.
Excerpts from Secretary Ridge's comments on Iran are below:
…Iran was once one of America’s greatest allies in the Middle East – but radicals chose to sweep away the “Shah’s Iran,” degrade the strong and trusted relationship Iran once enjoyed with the United States and instead forge a new radical Islamic republic.
For nearly three decades now, Iran’s leaders have posed a dilemma for our country and for Middle East progress. The Iran of recent times is out of step with time. It is out of step with the free world. It has positioned itself against the international community for reasons that are both disturbing and perplexing.
Reasoned and freedom-loving people in the global community cannot fully understand Iran’s fundamental, self-destructive, regionally destructive and virulently anti-American pursuits. But we do not need to understand Iran’s inhumanity and aggression to let it know that such actions will not be tolerated.
President Bush, Secretary Rice and our UN leaders are right to call out Iran for its nuclear conduct. It is right that we go after a rogue regime that provides more financial, military and political support to Islamic terrorists than any other nation on earth.
President Ahmadi-Nejad may continue to wave the flag of tyranny – but tyranny is merely a signal of failed leadership. It is the weak way – the wrong way – and the unacceptable way to rule one’s own citizens and interact with one’s fellow citizens around the world.
Iran is not preserving self-rule. It is ensuring its self-ruin as well as damaging its opportunities for peaceful co-existence in the broader world….
Diplomatic initiatives with our friends and allies across the world are helping to pile on the pressure and give Iran compelling reasons to reconsider its course of actions.
The robust and diplomatic strategy provided by the leadership and forcefully articulated views of Secretary Rice must be supported and sustained by our allies. It is the best, first way to communicate the costs of President Ahmadi-Nejad’s vitriolic and irresponsible conduct….
The Middle East is now the region of greatest importance for both the United States and for the blanket of neighboring regions and countries that exist nearby. Iran continues to sow chaos and thwart a Middle East peace settlement, particularly in the vulnerable democracies of Lebanon and Iraq.
The coalition of leading nations will not be obstructed by reckless rulers nor can it take seriously President Ahmadi-Nejad’s talk of Iran’s “peaceful nuclear program.” But this coalition will take him seriously when he says his nuclear program has “no brakes,” and when he disregards demands from the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency to suspend its enrichment-related and reprocessing activities….
I do believe that diplomacy is the best path to resolution. None of us want the alternative.
The hope is that Iran will accept the offer to negotiate with coalition nations so that we can achieve a peaceful end to its apparent nuclear weapons aspirations...