Former CIA national intelligence manager for Iran, Norman Roule, said Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi should be prevented from attending next month’s UN General Assembly because Tehran is complicit in the attack on novelist Salman Rushdie in New York on Aug. 12, and continues to foment violence and terrorism across the world.
Roule said President Joe Biden and the United Nations need to send a strong message that Tehran’s actions will not be tolerated.
Rouble said the attack on Rushdie was a “clear act of terrorism” that reflects a wider campaign of Iranian-sponsored violence that demands a forceful response from the United States, its European allies, and the United Nations.
Roule said banning Raisi from the U.N. General Assembly in September would send a clear message to other adversaries and rogue states there is a consequence to actions. If Raisi were to come to New York for the big diplomatic week, it would send the reverse message, Roule said.
“It sends the message that you can conduct these sorts of actions. You’ll get a statement from the state department spokesman. Maybe a tweet from a US official. Maybe a sanction against an organization that has no financial assets in the United States. But otherwise, it is pretty much cost-free. I think we really want to avoid that,” Roule said.
Roule said that if banning Raisi does not happen, the next option would be to boycott Raisi’s speech.
Iran’s campaign of violence run throughout the world, he said, citing several countries, including Argentinian and Yemen.
Roule said that Iran clearly is not only behind the attack on Rushdie, but also attempted to harm others including former UN Ambassador and US National Security Adviser John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and leaders in other countries including Adel Al-Jubeir, former Saudi foreign minister, who is currently the minister of state for foreign affairs and the Kingdom’s new climate envoy.
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