Biden Only Briefly Touches On Iran In Congressional Address

Iran International-March9th2024

President Joe Biden avoided the subject of Iran almost entirely in his State of the Union address on Thursday, focusing on issues that may be more advantageous for him in an election year.

In what largely sounded like an early campaign speech, Joe Biden mentioned the word Iran only once –and the word nuclear not even once, as Iran is now on the verge of a nuclear breakout.

“Creating stability in the Middle East also means containing the threat posed by Iran,” he said, “that’s why I built a coalition of more than a dozen countries to defend international shipping and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. I’ve ordered strikes to degrade Houthi capabilities and defend US Forces in the region.”

The Houthis in Yemen have turned out to be Iran’s wild card in the past few months, often stealing the limelight from Iran’s more prominent proxies like the Lebanese Hezbollah or the armed groups in Syria and Iraq –who killed 3 American soldiers in a US base in Jordan in late January.

“As Commander in Chief, I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and military personnel,” Biden warned, without elaborating on what those measures may be and against what adversary.

Iranian government-controlled media was silent about Biden’s remarks Friday morning, perhaps because it is weekend in Iran and reactions were slower.

Read more on original:

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202403088338