‘Containment’ Not a Dirty Word When it Comes to Managing Iran
President Obama has insisted that “containing” a nuclear Iran is not an option. Anything less has come to be viewed as appeasement. But containment has been US policy toward Iran for the past 33 years and is likely to continue to be for the foreseeable future, especially if negotiations due to resume in May fail and Iran actually builds nuclear weapons.
In recent months, as the debate over Iran’s nuclear program has become increasingly heated, US President Obama and other senior officials have insisted that “containing” Iran is not an option.
Indeed, Obama assured Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in March that his policy was “prevention,” even if that required using military force.