Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Sunday that Iran has been the greatest beneficiary of the American-led invasion of Iraq, and warned that a potential breakup of Iraq into three ethnic and sectarian zones would hand Tehran even more influence, particularly in the Shia-dominated south.
Speaking to the BBC during a visit to London, Albright welcomed the formation of Iraq's first permanent post-Saddam government but expressed concern about the sectarian divide between the Shia majority and Sunni minority. She argued that keeping Iraq unified, with local autonomy and shared oil revenues, was the preferable outcome. A partition, she noted, would also carry serious consequences for Türkiye and the Kurdish question.
On Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, Albright urged the Bush administration to engage Tehran directly rather than relying solely on multilateral channels through the United Nations. She said a senior administration official should formally respond to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's recent letter to President George W. Bush.
Albright, 69, recently published a book arguing the 2003 Iraq invasion may prove the gravest blunder in American foreign policy history. She also said the United States is ready for a female president, speaking warmly of Senator Hillary Clinton as a potential future candidate.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in May 2006, in its own words.