In an interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC News Sunday, Romney said, “My red line is Iran may not have a nuclear weapon. It is inappropriate for them to have the capacity to terrorize the world. Iran with a nuclear weapon or with fissile material that can be given to Hezbollah or Hamas or others has the potential of not just destabilizing the Middle East, but it could be brought here. Look, Iran as a nuclear nation is unacceptable to the United States of America.”
Stephanopoulos pointed out that Obama also says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon and asked Romney if he therefore has the same “red line” as Obama?
“Yes,” Romney said simply.
The difference, Romney says, is what he would do to keep Iran from reaching the line.
“I spoke some years ago in Israel at the Herzliya Conference and laid out seven steps to keep Iran from becoming nuclear. They have not been taken, until one, more recently. I said that crippling sanctions needed to be put in place immediately.”
Had those sanctions been implemented, Iran’s economy “would be on its knees at this point,” Romney said. Romney called then for sanctions as severe as those imposed on South Africa when it was an apartheid state. But the sanctions imposed under Obama have gone far beyond the sanctions imposed on South Africa.
Romney told Stephanop-oulos, “The president was silent when dissidents took to the streets in Tehran [in 2009]. I would have spoken out in favor of representative government and against the Ahmadi-nejad regime. The president was silent.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said the Administration was silent because opposition figures in Iran asked it to remain silent, apparently for fear a US endorsement would hurt the opposition with the Iranian public.
At the Herzliya Conference in 2007, Romney actually proposed a five-point, not a seven-point, approach to Iran. Here is the full text of what he said then.
‘We see five major dimensions. We need tighter economic sanctions: our model should be as severe as they were with apartheid South Africa. The Bush Administration deserves credit for our track so far. The United States and Europe should ensure that Iran gets little financial credit for anything and should make it difficult for Iran to get currencies. We need to send a message to the Iranian leaders and to the Iranian people that the world is not happy.
“We need to impose diplomatic isolation with Iran. Ahmadi-nejad should not be given the clout he is given when going abroad. The world should isolate him. Ahmadi-nejad should not be invited to foreign capitals nor feted by foreign diplomats. The message should also include an indictment of Ahmadi-nejad under the Genocide Convention. The US should lead this. One of the major points of the Genocide Convention is public incitement to incite genocide is a punishable crime.
“Arab states must join this effort to prevent a nuclear Iran. These states can do much more than just wring their hands and encourage America to act. They should support Iraq’s new government. They can help by turning down the heat on the Palestine-Israeli conflict. Telling Palestinians to stop executing terror in Israel and stopping the flow of weapons to groups like Hamas and Hezbollah is important. There also needs to be a recognition of the State of Israel’s right to exist.
“Iran needs to understand that a military option remains on the table. The nuclear material that Iran develops could fall into the hands of terrorists and, if used, could find a massive military strike against those responsible.
“Our strategy should be integrated into a broader approach. NATO should be included in defeating radical Islam. On one hand there is a capable military—this is key. This is a greater investment of the US and other nations. On the other hand there is a global partnership for progress that involves NATO and other organizations. This partnership should help provide the tools necessary for moderate Islamic governments to succeed in their societies. In the final analysis of it all, only Muslims will be able to defeat radical Islam but we could, and should, help!” Romney said.