The Iranian nuclear deal struck with the US was not good for New Zealanders who were against nuclear proliferation, a senior Foreign Affairs adviser to Presidents George W Bush and Ronald Reagan has told LawFuel
In an interview with Elliott Abrams, who held senior foreign policy positions in both the Bush and Reagan administrations as a senior foreign affairs advisor the deal with Iran was a "bad deal."
Visiting New Zealand to talk about foreign policy matters, particularly focused on his area of specialty in the Middle East, Mr Abrams, who is a Harvard educated lawyer, indicated that the Obama administration had lacked leadership in its handling of Middle East affairs, which had helped create the rise of the Islamic State as Syria's ... al-Assad had perpetuated a ruthless killing of the largely Sunni, Syrian population.
New Zealand is about to send a trade mission lead by Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully to Tehran following the lifting of sanctions. But the prospects for nuclear proliferation under the Obama-lead deal with Iran is one that does not carry widespread support either in Washington or elsewhere.
It's a deal, Mr Abrams said, that would release massive amounts of money to the Iranian regime and is likely to lead to nuclear proliferation because after the initial ten year period of inspections the Iranians can commence a uranium enrichment programme and do "pretty much anything they want."
"I think that the Arabs are going to say its not posible that the Iranian can have nuclear weapons and we're not able to."
"The Gulf Arabs do not think Iran is gong to drop a nuclear weapon on them- they fear a general sense of Iranian hegemony and of Western acceptance of the idea that Iran is going to be the top country in thwhole region," he said.
Mr Abrams also spoke in his interview about the problems with Syria and issues that arose in providing some sort of safe passage for al-Assad and the problems presented by the fact that, ironically enough, the International Criminal 
Court precluded asylum being granted for " butchers" such as the Syrian tyrant who has waged the brutal war against his own people.
The situation arose, he said, as a result of the vacuum that had been left in the region following the departure of American forces and the lack of leadership by the Obama administration.
Bush Links
Elliott Abrams had worked initially as a Wall Street lawyer before the pull of politics attracted him to Washington DC where he worked for Democrat Senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson who was a presidential contender in 1976.
However his work was principally with Presidents Reagan and George W Bush, whom he served in various capacities including as Special Assistant and an appointee to the National Security Council.
He still serves on some of the former president's Foundations in Dallas and comments that the President, much criticized for his Middle East adventures, as someone who developed as a great war time leader.
He also commented that the Bush presidency had been made much more difficult because of the involvement of former President Jimmy Carter (see separate story), which was something President George W Bush promised when he left office that he would never do.
"And he hasn't," said Mr Abrams.
"He's having a wonderful retirement."
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