US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a once-fierce critic of the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), has succumbed to Zionist pressure by backing the Israel lobby’s campaign against Iran, says an American political commentator.
Last week, US lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to take “increased diplomatic action” not to allow a United Nations arms embargo on Iran to expire in October.
In an unexpected move, Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota, reportedly signed on to the letter.
Ironically, since her election to the US House of Representatives in 2016, Omar has repeatedly condemned the influence of the Israel lobby over US foreign policy.
“It's more likely she's giving into pressure from the Zionist lobby and the pro-war Democratic leadership in the House and backing off her previous stance against sanctions,” said Charles Dunaway, a political analyst from the US state of Oregon.
“It's really sad to see Representative Omar joined the vast majority of her Democratic colleagues and their blatant hypocrisy on foreign policy, military spending and many other issues,” Dunaway told Press TV in a phone interview on Thursday.
“She clearly understands enough about the situation in the Middle East to recognize the outright lies in this letter and the fact that her own government and its Zionist ally are far more guilty of destabilization, illicit weapons transfers and nuclear proliferation,” he added.
The anti-Iran letter was spearheaded by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel and committee ranking member Michael McCaul.
President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and re-imposed harsh sanctions on Iran.
AIPAC is known for being the main architect of US policies throughout the Middle East, and has been criticized repeatedly for wielding disproportionate influence in the US Congress.