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‘We Will Have to Wait and See if Iran Is Done’

Former Centcom commander says the United States would be mistaken to take Iran’s word that it does not seek escalation.

U.S. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, then-head of U.S. Central Command, testifies during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 27, 2018.
U.S. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, then-head of U.S. Central Command, testifies during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 27, 2018.
U.S. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, then-head of U.S. Central Command, testifies during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on Feb. 27, 2018. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

As a young general officer, one of retired Gen. Joseph Votel’s first jobs in the U.S. Defense Department was as the director of a task force established to defeat a lethal new threat that killed and maimed thousands of American and coalition troops in the early 2000s—improvised explosive devices. 

Lara Seligman is a staff writer at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @laraseligman

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