Jeffrey Sachs: Iran victim of illegal US-Israel war
Economist Jeffrey Sachs says Iran is a victim of illegal US-Israel aggression, not guilty, and Tehran sought negotiation, not nuclear weapons.
Prominent American economist Jeffrey Sachs told RT's Sanchez Effect that Iran is not a guilty party but a victim of illegal aggression by the United States and Israel. Sachs rejected Washington's claims that Tehran was seeking a nuclear weapon, stating that Iranian leadership was willing to negotiate and not pursuing such arms.
In an interview with host Rick Sanchez, Sachs lambasted President Donald Trump's speech justifying Operation Epic Fury as a necessary response to Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions. "Iran is not a guilty party in this, it's the victim of aggression," Sachs said, calling the operation devastating, illegal, and ineffective.
Sachs pointed to repeated statements by Iran's religious leadership opposing nuclear weapons, citing a religious ruling from the early 2000s by the supreme leader that banned such arms. He also noted that Iran had opened its nuclear program to UN inspections under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement that placed strict limits on Tehran's nuclear activities.
The economist highlighted that Trump withdrew the US from the JCPOA in 2018, despite Iran's long-standing willingness to negotiate. Sachs argued that the US president "has ripped up the agreement which absolutely prevented Iran from having a nuclear weapon that they didn't even want," emphasizing the counterproductive nature of Washington's actions.
