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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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A photo illustration shows Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden posing on pedestals atop the bipolar world order, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Russian President Vladamir Putin standing below on a gridded floor.

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The Chinese flag is raised during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics at Beijing National Stadium on Feb. 4, 2022.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky looks on prior a meeting with European Union leaders in Mariinsky Palace, in Kyiv, on June 16, 2022.
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