Stavridis: We Need To Step Away from Iran Right Now and Let Them Mourn

EXCERPT:

STAVRIDIS: "And to nail it directly, we will give Iran space at the moment, and it is in our interest to do so. Just kind of step away from the car here. Let the Iranians figure this out internally. Don’t do anything that causes them to provoke their population and lash out. And I think a key thought here, we’ve been talking a lot about Islam and the religion inside, don’t forget, in that region, there is a huge division between the Shia branch of Islam, led by Iran, and the Sunni branch, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, by Egypt, by Jordan. These are ancient rivalries, much akin inside Christianity to the wars of the reformation between Catholics and protestants, which lasted a couple of hundred years. So there’s plenty of tension to go around. I think all sides here, including Israel, U.S., and the Sunni Arabs, need to stand back, let the Iranians have their moment. We'll deal downrange with the challenge from Tehran."