Trump vs. Obama on Iran Protests: 5 Things to Know
Obama administration's response
Former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen, who served under Obama until 2011, told ABC News "This Week" that the Obama administration could have been more "supportive" of the Iranian protests in 2009.
"I think we chose to not be as supportive as we could have been then," Mullen said. "And I hope we can be right now so that Iran can continue to evolve."
"They have an incredibly young population," Mullen, who began serving as chairman in 2007 under former President George W. Bush, said. "They look to a future that they cannot see. They've been promised change and a healthier economy by the current government. And I think the protests represent the inability to deliver that so far.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"So I think support of them and their people is absolutely the right thing to do."
Dennis Ross, who served as a National Security Council official under Obama, admitted to CNN on Monday that the Obama administration's initial caution to speak about the protests was a "mistake" even though it was a decision was based on requests from Green Revolution leaders so that the Iranian government can pin the protest on interference from the U.S. and other countries.
The criticism of the Obama administration comes as it was also accused in a lengthy Politico report last month of halting a federal law enforcement investigation into the illegal drug and laundering operations of the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah.
The investigation that the Obama administration reportedly halted tracked a trail of "dirty cash" and "traced what investigators believed to be the innermost circle of Hezbollah and its state sponsors in Iran."
Read "6 Things to Know About the Shocking Allegations Concerning Obama, Hezbollah and Iran."
