Tony Blair: The Iranian Government is the Source of Instability in the Middle East and Must Never Acquire Nuclear Weapons

Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has described the Iranian government as the "source of instability in the Middle East" and stated that the United States must ensure that the Islamic Republic never acquires nuclear weapons. In an interview with Newsweek, published on Wednesday, October 24, he emphasized that the key to stability in the Middle East is ensuring that "religious tolerance" prevails over Islamism. He stressed that ensuring that the Islamist rulers of Iran never have the capability to acquire nuclear weapons is one of the factors in achieving such a situation. The former British Prime Minister also criticized the Iranian government for its efforts to export revolution through its proxies, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Tony Blair served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1997 for ten years. He has faced criticism from some for his alignment with the United States in the military invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003. From 2007 to 2015, he acted as the special representative of the "Quartet on the Middle East Peace Process," which includes the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia, mediating between Israel and the Palestinians. In 2016, he established the "Tony Blair Institute for Global Change," a non-profit organization aimed at combating what has been described as the rise of "populist authoritarianism" worldwide. Two years ago, a survey conducted by this institute showed that about 84% of Iranians support regime change. This study also indicated that Iranian society has become "more secular."