According to the Persian version of the IRNA report, Wendy Sherman, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State and senior negotiator, reacting to Israel’s attack on Iran in an interview with CNN, said: “I thought back to the initial reaction we all had at the outset of the U.S. invasion of Iraq — that shocking moment when we believed everything would go just the way we wanted. But of course, things started to unravel very differently. So, I think we are still at a point where we don’t know how this will unfold, and we all need to be cautious.”
She continued: “There is no doubt that Israel has done much to eliminate top Iranian military figures, but they will quickly replace them. You know, any time a country is attacked, it strengthens nationalism. Today, we see this in the streets of Tehran with chants of ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America’.”
The American diplomat added: “I regret that diplomacy did not succeed. If Donald Trump had not withdrawn from the JCPOA, we would not be in this situation today.”
Sherman also responded to Donald Trump’s remarks that Israel’s attacks would push Iran to accept an American-favored deal, saying: “Iran is a resilient country with a resistance economy — that was the whole purpose of the 1979 revolution. I think this situation may actually encourage some in Iran to seriously pursue nuclear weapons. Some analysts say that these attacks will eventually force Iran back to the negotiating table, and maybe even to agree to dismantle its nuclear program. I think we’re far from that point. That’s not Iran’s identity. I wish it were, but I don’t see that happening.”
