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America Is Turning Up the Pressure on Iran - and We Want Britain to Stand with Us
(Telegraph-UK) Amb. Robert Wood Johnson - Rather than investing in the country and its people, the Iranian regime is squandering its money on proxy wars and malign activities abroad. At the same time, Iran's elite is lining its own pockets at the people's expense. The Iranian people deserve better. They deserve a government that cares more about improving their lives than destroying others. They need a government that pays workers, not terrorists. A government that cracks down on poverty, not peaceful protests. The Iranian regime is spending billions of dollars to destabilize the region. It is backing Assad's atrocities against the Syrian people. It is launching cyber attacks against Western democracies. It is sponsoring Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon. It is arming militants in Yemen. It has publicly stated its quest to destroy Israel. The Iranian regime's behavior is a threat to the Iranian people and it is a threat to the U.S. and our partners across the globe. Ninety days ago, the U.S. president made the historic decision to terminate America's participation in the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. The UK is our closest ally and we have spent the past year working together and with other allies to try to fix the agreement. It is clear that the danger from Iran did not diminish in the wake of the deal. It grew. Far from becoming a more responsible member of the international community, as we had all hoped, Iran grew bolder. It ramped up its military spending and expanded its proxy forces and terrorist networks. Only by presenting a united front can we exert the maximum possible pressure on the Iranian regime, and get it to finally change course and put an end to its malign and reckless activities both at home and abroad. We want the UK by our side. We are asking global Britain to use its considerable diplomatic power and influence and join us as we lead a concerted global effort towards a genuinely comprehensive agreement. The writer is U.S. ambassador to the UK.