Newly released oral histories revealed that former DNI Dennis Blair confronted President Obama over Iran’s nuclear policy and was later sidelined.
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Obama intel chief angered president at meeting by asking if he'd tolerate Iran having nuclear weapon
Dennis Blair says he was kept out of meetings after annoying Obama with question about Iran
Former Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair once angered then-President Barack Obama during a White House meeting on Iran, after he pressed Obama on whether he could tolerate the nation obtaining a nuclear weapon, according to newly released
oral history interviews.
"When it came my turn to speak at this meeting," Blair said, "I said, ‘Mr. President, you really just have one decision to make… Are you going to tolerate Iran having a nuclear weapon or not?’" He added that rejecting a nuclear Iran would require espionage and military options, while acceptance would mean a strategy to contain and deter Iran.
The exchange, documented in interviews conducted by the University of Virginia's Miller Center and reported by The New York Times, offers a window into internal divisions within the Obama administration as officials debated how to respond to
Iran's nuclear program.
Blair said the moment prompted a sharp warning
from Obama.
The president took me aside after that meeting and said, ‘Denny, don’t ever put me on the spot like that again,’" he recalled. "I said… ‘Yes, sir, Mr. President. I certainly won’t.’" He added, "I was kept out of meetings from that time forward."
Blair described the meeting as one that had been presented as an opportunity to provide input on
Iran policy, and he made the "mistake" of thinking Obama was honestly looking for "fresh insights."
Blair served as Obama's DNI from the start of his presidency in 2009 until he resigned at Obama's request in May 2010.
Obama would go on to negotiate the Iran nuclear deal during his second term, which his administration hailed as a landmark diplomatic achievement that limited the country's nuclear ambitions while avoiding bloodshed. Its critics savaged the deal as mere appeasement that granted unearned sanctions relief to the world's largest state sponsor of terror.