Opposing view: Don’t put an American face on Iran protests

As Iranians continue to take to the streets, all Americans should be on their side against a regime whose corruption, mismanagement and repression have served them poorly — and whose foreign policies threaten the United States and its allies.

But we also need to be smart, and to keep the focus on Iran rather than ourselves. In fact, high-profile declarations and calls for regime change by the Trump administration are more likely to do harm than good.

Putting an American face on the protests would only facilitate the regime’s efforts to blame the unrest on foreign interference and distract from its own failings. Already, Iranian officials are pointing to President Trump’s tweets that it’s “Time for Change!” and his promises of “great support” as proof of meddling by Iran’s enemies reminiscent of the 1953 U.S.-backed coup.

If Trump abandons the 2015 nuclear deal, he will only isolate the United States and give the regime more fodder to blame outsiders for the economic mess that is its Achilles’ heel.

Trump and many others fault President Obama for not more vigorously supporting Iranian protesters in 2009. But it remains unclear what such gestures would have accomplished then or what good they would do now. Trump should perhaps be reminded that in 1991, President George H.W. Bush called on Iraqis to overthrow Saddam Hussein, only to see them slaughtered, along with America’s credibility.

U.S. officials from across the political spectrum, preferably joined by foreign counterparts, should continue to defend Iranians’ right to free expression and peaceful protest and underscore the regime’s transgressions. But there is little reason to believe that Iranians are looking for leadership from Trump, who has needlessly and callously banned them from traveling to the USA, vehemently opposes the lifting of economic sanctions, and is utterly distrusted as a source of information about their government.

When it comes to helping the Iranian people today, more is less.

Philip Gordon, the Mary and David Boies senior fellow in U.S. foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, is a former assistant secretary of State and White House coordinator for the Middle East under President Obama.