Fmr. Adm. McRaven on Negotiations with Iran: If I Were the President, I Would Go to the Iranians and Say, ‘I Will Lift the Blockade’ If You Open the Straits

TRANSCRIPT:

McRAVEN: "Yeah, I think what the American people have to ask themselves, Martha, is, you know, are we better off now than we were before February 28th? And I think that's open for some serious debate. The fact is, before February 28th, the Straits were open. You had a — you know, not a moderate regime, but the regime, you know, right now is much more hard-line than before February 28th, and I get — my guess is that they were moving towards an enrichment. I don't think they had a nuclear weapon. I don't think it was, you know, coming about imminently. But the fact of the matter is, we're not really that much better off now than we were before February 28th. Yes, we have sunk their navy. Yes, we have destroyed their air force. Yes, we have taken out a lot of their leadership, but I'm not sure we're a lot better off. So if the President wants to get to a position where we are better off, he needs to bring them to the table, and my recommendation is he can make the blockade — you know, make it a carrot rather than a stick. Get the Iranians to the table and then go from there."