The Vance Warning
AtlanticSEP 19 2024
US Election Issue: Iran
Above: Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran on Feb. 18, 2020. Image copyright: Iranian Supreme Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The Spin
Republican narrative
Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel should prove that the Democrats' policies of weakness and appeasement will only lead to further war and conflict. Had Trump been in office, Iran wouldn't have dared launch an attack against US allies. Indeed, Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon is an existential threat to US security, and Trump is more than willing to deter such actions through force. The US must use its strength to prevent terror states from holding entire regions hostage.
Democratic narrative
Trump's recklessness will make the situation in the Middle East worse. Trump's actions, specifically pulling out of the JCPOA, emboldened hardliners within the Iranian regime. If Iran had been more integrated into the global economy, it would have been more likely to prevent Hamas from launching its Oct. 7 terror attack. Harris and the Democrats view diplomacy as a more effective tool for countering American adversaries, but the party will defend Israel and its regional allies by force if necessary.
Establishment-critical narrative
Though Iran certainly has problematic governance, it's not in the US' interests to go to war with a country that's barely a regional power, let alone a global power. Israel has spent the last year trying to provoke Iran into a wider conflict with the goal of dragging the US into a pointless war. Tens of thousands have already been killed because the US has failed to reign in its so-called allies. American soldiers should not die to defend dictatorships and an intransigent Israeli regime.