U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback said the United States should engage Iran on the “singular issue” of Iraq but continue to vigorously confront the Islamic republic on its support for terrorism and pursuit of nuclear weapons. In remarks Wednesday in New York to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Kansas Republican conceded that such engagement was unlikely to work with a country that says it is committed to the destruction of Israel. “I call on Iran to walk away from that statement and to walk away from nuclear weapons,” said Brownback, who has declared his candidacy for president. Brownback called for a three-pronged strategy to target Iran politically, economically and morally. He also expressed support for conditioning aid to the Palestinian Authority on progress in ridding textbooks and media of anti-Israel incitement, and for a federal solution in Iraq that provides a measure of political autonomy to the country’s Sunni, Shia and Kurdish groups. Brownback is the first in a series of meetings the Presidents Conference is planning with U.S. presidential candidates.
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