January 23, 2007
Press release
Governor Mitt Romney: Iran can and will be stopped
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (R) addressed the Herzliya Conference today and delivered a foreign policy speech to a packed plenary hall.
Governor Romney began by saying that contrary to the Baker-Hamilton report, solving the Arab-Israeli conflict will not mollify the threats which Israel and the world are facing from radical Islam and said that: “this Jihadi threat exists from Tehran to Syria, to Lebanon and Gaza. The goal of Jihadism is to subjugate the world and to overthrow modern moderate Arab regimes and replace them with a caliphate”. Romney referred to Former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar’s speech at the Herzliya Conference yesterday: “I agree with Aznar that the purpose of NATO should be to defeat radical Islam.”
As to Iran, Governor Romney said that its leaders pose the greatest threat to the world since Soviet Communism and Nazism… that threat would take another dimension if Iran gets a nuclear bomb.” He continued to detail his strategy for dealing with Iran and suggested stronger economic sanctions and isolation. Echoing former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s earlier speech before the conference, Romney stated that: “we should explore a policy of divestment against Iran.” And also: “diplomatic isolation should include an indictment of Ahmadinejad on the violation of the Genocide Convention”, since the convention states that “public incitement to genocide is a punishable crime”.
Romney concluded his speech by saying that: “it is time for the world to speak three truths: Iran must be stopped, Iran can be stopped, and Iran will be stopped.”
Governor Romney was introduced by the Herzliya Conference Chairman - Prof. Uzi Arad and by Ambassador Ronald Lauder. The speech is one of several appearances at the conference by U.S. presidential candidates and would-be candidates who will address the conference and outline their security and foreign policies. This speech was part of the third day of the Herzliya Conference on the Balance of Israel’s National Security, which is organized by the Institute for Policy and Strategy at IDC, Herzliya.
For further details:
Yonatan Beker, Conference Foreign Press Coordinator – 054-6404225
Jeremy Ruden, IDC Deputy Spokesperson – 052-4070775
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