Morell: Iran Wants a Nuke ‘As a Tool To Be This Hegemonic Power’

Former CIA Director Mike Morell said that Arab Sunni countries “are scared to death of Iran” due to the accurate perception that they want to dominate the region and that Iran wants a nuke, in part, because it’s “a tool to be this hegemonic power” on Monday’s “Charlie Rose.”

Morell stated that while Iran wants a nuclear weapon in part due to inaccurate fears that the US will overthrow its government, “there’s another reason they want a weapon, or capability for a weapon. Which is as a tool to be this hegemonic power, right? And this desire to be the power in the Middle East is not something that this supreme leader just cooked up, right? This goes way back in Iranian history, the Shah, this is the way the Shah, thought, right? This is rooted deeply in Iranian society, in Iranian history. This goes way back, right? And that’s not going to change overnight.”

Earlier, Morell argued that, “There is a strong feeling among our allies in the Middle East that we are not showing the necessary leadership, and we’re we’re not using capacity that we have.”

Morell continued that Arab Sunni countries “are scared to death of Iran. They are much more worried about Iran than they are about ISIS or Al Qaeda. They believe that they can deal with ISIS and Al Qaeda effectively, just a matter of time. They’re much more worried about Iran over the long-term. They see — they see Charlie, they see Iran as a strategic threat to them.” And “They see which is — which I agree with, they see the Iranians wanting to dominate the region. They see Iranian — they see Iran as wanting to the hegemonic power in the Middle East. they see Iran as wanting to re-establish the Persian Empire. They see Iran as trying to overthrow. They see Iran as trying to overthrow them.”

He then pointed to Iran’s support of insurgents in Yemen, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia, and their history of support for terrorism, adding that Iran “has the same kind of view, in some ways, it’s not as harsh, right? But the same kind of view as Al Qaeda. In terms of — of a religious-dominated government, right? Sharia Law dominated society.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett