FOR MORE than 30 years, the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran have relentlessly persecuted religious minorities and political dissidents, led and supported a program of worldwide terror, and declared their intent to destroy Israel while threatening neighboring Arab states. Now these same leaders are engaged in an effort to build nuclear weapons.
A consensus has emerged among the United States and its allies that a nuclear Iran would pose a grave worldwide threat. James Carroll, however, ignores years of failed negotiations and Iran’s well-documented commitment to violence and terror in order to argue that hawkish rhetoric from Washington is responsible for Iran’s determination to seek nuclear weapons (“Bad option on the table,’’ Op-ed, Feb. 13). He bolsters his case by quoting Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei complaining about “America’s bullying’’ of Iran, and chastises President Obama for potentially causing “unforeseen consequences.’’
