Republican Candidate Brandon Williams for New York's 22nd Congressional District said this a “critical time” in global history, referring to the current uprising in Iran to a virtual audience in a meet & greet Monday hosted by Iranian Americans for the Constitution and moderated by Editor-in-Chief of The Foreign Desk, Lisa Daftari.
"Today, the Iranian regime is murdering unbelievably brave women who are seeking the most basic of women's rights, which is the right to be free," said Williams. The congressional candidate then criticized President Biden and his Democratic opponent for accelerating the Islamic regime's development of nuclear weapons by approving the Iran nuclear deal.
Williams addressed his career as a strategic missile officer on a United States nuclear submarine and then his transition to entrepreneurship. The congressional candidate noted the impact of Iran on his background, addressing his father's business trips to Tehran in the mid-1970s for investment in real estate and his family's trip to the country.
When asked what he would do differently than other politicians in Congress, Williams stated that the U.S. must "return to responsible fiscal leadership in Washington," describing the effects of current government spending and rising inflation as "reckless" and "dangerous" for America and the world.
On the issue of energy policies, Williams noted that energy policies contributed to inflation at home and helped empower anti-American regimes like the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela, and Russia, which has "used its energy wealth to destabilize the world and add to the pain to the pain of working Americans and repress their own citizens."
"We need American oil from American soil and, as a military veteran, to deter our enemies and help our friends,” Williams said.
Regarding the issue of America's military capabilities, Williams explained that one of the benefits of American power since World War II is "Pax-Americana that America has this extensive presence around the world and for the most part has been a conveyor of peace and ensuring the peace." Williams emphasized that American strength must play that role and needs responsible leadership to become a strong ally and provide peace in the world.
Williams explained that without strong American leadership, the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other Iranian officials "push every advantage and boundary," resulting in the suffering of the Iranian people.
"We need to be shrewd leaders or negotiations as well, and we’ve had some success like the Soleimani strike, the navy’s patrolling of the Strait of Hormuz, and be ready to support the Iranian resistance when there is a tipping point," said Williams.
If elected and sworn into Congress next year, Williams stated that his message to Iranians protesting the regime is that he "certainly stands with the liberty-seeking people everywhere, particularly with Iran."
"People need to know they can overturn a corrupt leadership. If you seek true freedom and demand real justice and you're seeking basic human rights, in the end, that will prevail."
Towards the end of the interview, Williams described the former Trump administration’s brokered peace agreement between Israel and several Arab states as "stunning." He recalled the period in his life when he worked in Jordan in 2001 at a telecommunications project funded by the U.S. trade and development agency and the friendships he developed in Jordan and Israel, seeing "so many aspirations like economic opportunity."
"The Abraham Accords have really broken through in ways that I never thought were possible." It would be really great to see the real potential of the Iranian people unleashed into a growing economy instead of the tensions that drive that area," said Williams.
