Obama Administration Failing To Contain Iran

Respected Middle East expert Walid Phares tells Newsmax.TV that Iran is playing a “very dangerous game” by threatening to close the vital Strait of Hormuz oil route – a move that the Obama administration is unprepared to stop.

“The Iranian regime does saber rattling, thinking this is a good strategy. But at the same time this is a very dangerous business because they may choose to stop shipments coming to the [Persian] Gulf or through the Gulf as a result of our sanctions and that of course is going to draw United States, Eurpoean, NATO and international response,” Phares warns in an exclusive interview on Thursday.

“The Iranians are playing a very dangerous game here even by issuing those statements and by deploying some of their ships in the Gulf.”

And, Phares said, the Obama administration has clearly failed to contain the Iranian regime thus far. The situation in the Middle East is looking increasingly bleak just as the nation is pulling out of Iraq.

“The Obama administration tried. It had done some sanctions. It made statements, but the results are in what we see on the ground,” according to Phares. “The Iranian regime today is stronger than it was ever before.”

While the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq has been accomplished, Phares says that the country is now much more vulnerable to Iranian influence and is being used to help bolster Bashar Assad's besieged government in Syria.

“Let’s put it very simply. Iran today has a great influence over politics and national security in Iraq and that is a strategic failure for us,” he said. “The reason why the Assad regime is not crumbling is because the Iranians are capable of supporting it. They have been sending logistics and money and revolutionary guards to assist the Syrian regime in the suppression of its own people.”

In addition to its alliances with Hezbollah in Lebanon and Assad in Syria, Iran also has reportedly been supportive of an uprising in northern Yemen and has been active in Africa.

“And as we all know, they now have a strategic alliance with [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez’ regime in this hemisphere,” adds Phares.

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