Biden Says Trump’s Iran Strategy Is A ‘Self-Inflicted Disaster’

Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden said President Donald Trump’s Iran strategy has worsened diplomatic relations in the Middle East on Thursday, the same day officials said Iran shot down a U.S. military drone.

“President Trump’s Iran strategy is a self-inflicted disaster,” Biden said. “Two of America’s vital interests in the Middle East are preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and securing a stable energy supply through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump is failing on both counts.”

“He unilaterally withdrew from the hard-won nuclear agreement that the Obama-Biden administration negotiated to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” he continued.

The former vice president also said Trump “has made military conflict more likely” in the Middle East.

Biden made the remarks hours after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for shooting the drone down, although U.S. military officials said the plane was flying in international airspace, not Iran’s, reported The Wall Street Journal.

“Our borders are Ira’’s red line, and we will react strongly against any aggression,” Salami said Thursday in remarks carried by Iranian state television,” Major Gen. Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reportedly said on Iranian state television, according to The Washington Post.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.