Morgan Ortagus, former deputy United States special envoy to the Middle East, made her first public appearance on March 10 at the Harvard Kennedy School, since leaving the Donald Trump administration.
She remarked on the situations in Iran and Lebanon surrounding the current conflict.
Lebanon
On Lebanon, Ortagus emphasized the importance of disarming Hezbollah and commented on the Lebanese state’s slow action towards addressing the organization.
She stated that “the Lebanese government was very good at declaring things, but they have lacked on action.”
Ortagus added that Hezbollah’s behavior “wasn’t different from any other terrorist organization” and commented that the Lebanese government is “more concerned about instability in Lebanon than they are about actually disarming Hezbollah.”
She affirmed her position that Hezbollah will continue to turn Lebanon into a battlefield with Israel without the consent of the Lebanese population, saying that “you are going to end up back in a war with Israel if you do not disarm Hezbollah.”
When asked directly on the Lebanese government’s role in de-escalation with Israel, she responded that “you can directly de-escalate the situation by disarming Hezbollah.”
Ortagus additionally expressed that the Iranians “have been the cause of chaos in the region…if you look at every country that has had to endure the Iranian regime and their negative influence, you could look at Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, you look at failed state after failed state.”
Iran
On Iran, Ortagus commented on the Iranian regime as a hostile entity to the United States.
She said that “people tend to forget that just in the past few years, Iran has been openly engaging in what are acts of war against the United States,” and mentioned assassination plots against former and current U.S. officials, including on President Donald Trump.
“It’s not one single threat, it’s a culmination of threats,” she stated, expressing her view of the challenges that Iran poses towards the interests of the United States.
Ortagus added that Trump was genuine in his desire for a deal, stating that he “wanted a deal with the regime and was willing to give them one, and even this time I think he understood that the regime was trying to string along.”
She conveyed that U.S. officials felt that Iran was on the verge of attacking first, saying that “Secretary [Marco] Rubio had said within the past week that they felt they were days away from the Iranians preemptively attacking the United States, which led them to make the decision that it was time to go.”
Watch Ortagus’s Talk Here: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/events/iran-trumps-middle-east-doctrine-and-road-ahead-ft-morgan-ortagus
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