כיכר השבת

US Ambassador Tom Barrack: Iran “Not an Evil Regime”

Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and the administration’s special envoy for Syria, said Iran is “not an evil regime.” He described the Twelver Shia theocracy established in 1979 as a religious system that deserves respect. “That’s a religious content and practice that we all respect,” Barrack said. Instead, Barrack singled out the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, saying it “has become an adversary” and that its confrontation with Israel “has been a problem.” The remarks stand in sharp contrast to the administration’s broader stance toward Tehran. They come as the U.S. and Iran remain locked in a war that has dragged on for eight months, and as senior Iranian officials say Tehran is bracing for renewed U.S. and Israeli strikes. Barrack, who is of Lebanese descent, has stirred controversy before. Last year, he sparked outrage in Beirut when he told Lebanese journalists at a press conference not to behave in an “animalistic” way. He later said he hadn’t meant the term in a derogatory manner.