But he made no prediction on how much time. Discussing the Arab spring, Panetta said, “I think in many ways it’s a matter of time before that kind of change and reform and revolution occurs in Iran as well…. We should try to take every step to try to support their [Iranians’] effort-but at the same time, we’ve got to analyze each situation to make sure that we do nothing that creates a backlash or that undermines those efforts.” He didn’t explain what that meant.
