OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Chris Backemeyer is a Lincoln native who served as the lead sanctions negotiator on the Iran nuclear deal during the Obama administration.
He is now running for Congress as a Democrat in Nebraska's 1st District. After initial reports that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was dead, Backemeyer said there are different possible outcomes that could follow U.S. Strikes on Iran.
"One option is that it could be a very successful operation. It could lead to a democratic Iran in the future and a more peaceful Iran,” Backemeyer said. “But there's also a scenario where it leads to rapid escalation, where Iranian proxies are attacking our forces in the region and attacking our allies, which we've already seen a little bit of this morning, and it could also lead to mayhem inside Iran, you know, civil war, warring factions…"
He says one thing on which nobody disagrees is that the Iranian regime is a brutal, repressive, state sponsor of terrorism.
The news is worrying for some military families. Oakland, Iowa resident Shawna Anderson’s brother is in the National Guard and was recently deployed in the Middle East.
"It's terrifying. He's got two little kids, you know, and they need their daddy and his wife needs him and I need him. He's just my baby brother, but I still need him," Anderson said.
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst says that, at this time, she does not see the president using conventional troops on the ground in Iran. She believes Iranian exiles will return to fill the country's leadership vacuum.
"So, there are people that believe in freedom, that believe in democracy that are anxious to return that to Iran,” Ernst said.”So, I don't worry so much about what's next. What I do believe is this was the best opportunity to strike Iran and I'm very pleased that the president first tried to negotiate with Iranian leadership."
Ernst also said she believes overturning the Islamic Republic of Iran will make Americans safer.
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