By Congressman Markwayne Mullin
In 2013, under the misguided direction of then-President Obama, the United States took a seat at the negotiating table in an effort to end Iran’s nuclear missile production. Alongside China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and Germany, the United States wanted Iran to halt their nuclear weapons program. In exchange, Iran required that all international sanctions against them be lifted. The negotiations ended in 2015, when the United States entered into the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement widely known as the Iran Deal.
While the deal called for the end to Iran’s nuclear program, Iran has continued developing nuclear weapons, openly disregarding the terms of the agreement. Last week, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of continuing plans to pursue its nuclear program after unveiling documents obtained by Israeli intelligence. The Obama administration trusted Iran to make an agreement in good faith, but that trust was misplaced, and the agreement has turned out to be a sham.
This week, President Trump announced that the United States will withdraw from the Iran Deal calling it a “horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made.” By removing the United States from President Obama’s shortsighted deal, President Trump is making good on a promise he made to the American people. I have opposed the Iran Deal since its inception and I applaud President Trump for ending the United States participation in a deal that never stood to benefit the United States or our allies.
The Iran Deal is a bad deal for America and a bad deal for our allies. The fact is that Iran remains the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. The Iran Deal only emboldened the Iranian regime to secretly continue down the path it was already headed: the development of nuclear weapons.
President Trump has instructed his administration to reinstate sanctions against Iran immediately. These sanctions, directed at Iran’s energy, petrochemical, and financial industries, will target industries critical to Iran’s economy. The United States should not negotiate with the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. I am glad to see that we finally have a president who agrees and believes the safety and security of the United States should always come first.
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