Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Tuesday warned of Iran’s growing influence amid the Middle East’s turbulent political climate, underscoring other Republicans’ calls for the U.S. to take a harder line on Iran.
The spread of pro-democracy movements across the region — from Tunisia to Egypt and Libya — is a positive step, Ridge said, but it also creates an opening for even more Iranian influence.
“There’s just so much uncertainty,” Ridge told an audience gathered at Georgetown University for a forum commemorating the DHS’ eighth anniversary. “While we want to think optimistically about what can happen…we’re waiting to see what the growing influence of Iran is…as our influence has diminished in the region.”
“There’s a vacuum and they’re beginning to fill it, and we’ve got to be very concerned about that,” he said.
Ridge was the lone voice specifically warning about Iran on the three-person panel, which included DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano and former Secretary Michael Chertoff.
During the panel discussion, Chertoff was the first to warn of the terrorism implications related to the Middle East unrest.
“There’s an alternative narrative for progress in the Middle East — it’s a narrative of democracy and freedom,” he said. “On the other hand, we don’t know how it’s going to play out. At some point, the garbage needs to be taken out … and there needs to be jobs.”
“There’s a cause for optimism…but there’s a cause for waiting and seeing how it turns out,” he remarked.
Ridges’ comments echo those of House Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), who has been pushing for a harder line on Iran.
Ros-Lehtinen has recently authored a bill aimed at closing loopholes in the Iran sanctions bill passed last summer. Opponents have assailed the bill for allowing companies to continue to to engage with Iran and the Obama administration to avoid levying sanctions, as Congressional Quarterly’s Emily Cadei reports.
