Harman regrets, clarifies Iran remark

Another day, another Jane Harman controversy.

At her appearance at the AIPAC policy conference earlier this month, Harman said this:

"The Persian population in Iran is not a majority, it is a plurality. There are many different, diverse, and disagreeing populations inside Iran and an obvious strategy, which I believe is a very good strategy, is to work to separate those populations."

The National Iranian American Council, among others, took exception to this. So Harman has issued a clarification:

I was not and am not calling for the creation of ethnic tensions or separation in Iran -- nothing would be less productive. Although my comments on Iran were taken out of context, I regret any concern they might have caused. My point was that the diversity of views in Iran should be better understood in order for the United States to formulate the best strategy for persuading the Iranian government not to pursue nuclear weapons development.

The video of Harman's original remarks is after the jump, so you can see the full context and decide for yourself whether she said anything that ought to be controversial.