WASHINGTON - VOA contributor Greta Van Susteren interviewed National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster at the White House on Tuesday.
General, nice to see you, sir.
It’s great to be with you, Greta. Thank you.
Thank you for doing this interview.
It’s a privilege to do it, thanks.
Well, the Iranian people are expressing frustration — frustration about a regime that pays more attention to exporting terrorism than it does to meeting the needs of its own people. So, the president has been very strong in his support for the Iranian people and their rights to express themselves. And I think what’s most important now is for the whole world to tell Iran that they have to respect the rights of their citizens and allow them to demonstrate peacefully and to not engage in the kind of violence against the demonstrators that we saw, remember, back in 2009 and that we’re starting to see now, as well.
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Well, we’ll see what options are available. But I think what we need are strong voices across the world on behalf of the Iranian people. This is a dictatorial regime that is oppressing its own people, that is using the resources that this great nation with this rich culture and rich history needs, to foment hatred and violence across the greater Middle East. They’re a driving force behind this fitna, behind this sectarian civil war, that has caused so much pain and suffering and death in Syria and Iraq and Yemen. They pose a continuing threat to Israel and within Lebanon to its stability, and this regime has to be held to account. And it seems as if the Iranian people are expressing their displeasure about the behavior of this regime and prioritizing this kind of violence over the benefit and the welfare of their own citizens.
I think what’s key is to let the Iranian people speak for themselves on this. I think it’s dissatisfaction with this dictatorial regime. It was over economics to a certain extent, and the skyrocketing of prices, the very high rate of unemployment, especially among young Iranians. And these are people who know the great potential of their country, and they’re frustrated to not be able to take advantage of that potential. But it’s also been about the external behavior of the regime, and how … This is a regime that gives safe haven to al-Qaida terrorists who target Shi'ite, Christians, anybody who doesn’t do … and any Muslim who doesn’t adhere to their narrow and irreligious definition of Islam. And so, this is a regime that is dishonest fundamentally, and a regime that has helped drive violence and hatred across the whole region.
Well, we’re already doing more than that. As you know, in recent years, there was a hope — a hope that the pursuit of this nuclear deal that’s fundamentally flawed would change the behavior of this regime, that it would moderate its violent behavior. And of course, that hasn’t been the case at all. So, what the United States has been doing, along with allies and partners around the world, is sanctioning that violent, that maligned, Iranian behavior. And so, it’s important, I think, that this regime be denied the resources it needs to continue its murderous campaigns. And so, it’s diplomacy, but it’s also sanctions. And we see that actually the Iranian people are expressing their displeasure about the nature of this regime — how it treats them, but also how it treats the rest of the world.
Well, I think the first thing to know is the American people — and this American government — has great respect for the Iranian people, the Iranian culture, their tremendous history and the tremendous potential they have. And it breaks our heart to see Iranians not be able to realize their dreams. Also, we have to recognize, though, it’s up to all of us across the world to confront Iran’s behavior that is causing so much suffering — their support for terrorist organizations and illegal militias that are perpetuating violence. And so, they have our emotional support, they have our sympathy, and we’re grateful, I think, to see them exercising their right to voice their displeasure with this dictatorial regime.
Well, I think the main message is how can you trust this regime that treats its own people the way we see it’s treating its own people, that foments violence?