Former CIA director John Brennan, as well as former State Department official and top negotiator of the Iran nuclear deal, Wendy Sherman, were received by House Democrats at a closed-door briefing on Tuesday to speak about the situation in Iran amid heightened concerns over the Trump administration's sudden moves in the region.
According to Boston, Brennan told Democrats that while Iran wants to avoid conflict, the country’s leadership will not capitulate to Trump.
Sherman warned that reckless behavior by the Trump administration is undermining moderates in the country. That’s according to a person in the room who was not authorized to discuss the private meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity, Boston reported.
Both Brennan and Sherman are outspoken critics of President Donald Trump. Sherman is also a supporter of the JCPOA and has recently censured US National Security Adviser John Bolton for his warmongering attitude toward Iran.
Democrats’ meeting with Brennan and Sherman was a counterprogramming to the Trump administration's closed-door briefing for lawmakers on the same day.
After the briefings on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters that they were trying to assure lawmakers that the administration is not rushing toward a military confrontation with Iran.
According to Boston, Shanahan said they now want to prevent further escalation, telling reporters, “We’re not about going to war.”
“This is about deterrence, not about war," he added.
Meanwhile, Iran has stressed in a letter to UN that it “will never choose war as an option or strategy in pursuing its foreign policy. But if war is imposed on us, Iran will exercise its inherent right to self-defense in order to defend its nation and to secure its interests.”
MS
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