President Trump’s nominee for defense secretary said a future nuclear agreement with Iran should include a more permanent end to the country’s nuclear activities and address its ballistic missile program.
Secretary of the Army Mark Esper told the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing Tuesday that he was concerned about Iran’s path toward nuclearization. He called for a modified version of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal that President Trump withdrew the United States from last year, which would include stricter provisions.
“I do think we need to get back to a negotiated path with them,” Esper said. “Preferably an updated version of JCPOA, if you will, that addresses, with finality, a verifiable, irreversible, and permanent prohibition on their nuclear work and efforts.”
“So that would be number one, and then, we also need to address the means to deliver them, ICBMs,” he said.
Critics of the nuclear agreement pointed to sunset clauses that allow the country eventually to increase its nuclear activities, starting in 2025, as a major weakness. They also noted it did nothing to curb Iran’s pursuit of intercontinental ballistic missiles, which are almost always used to deliver nuclear warheads.
Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested his country’s ballistic missile stockpile could be up for negotiation in an interview Tuesday with NBC, but only if the United States halts arms sales to its allies in the region.
“These are American weaponry that is going into our region, making our region ready to explode, so if they want to talk about our missiles, they need first to stop selling all these weapons, including missiles, to our region,” Zarif said.
That is likely a nonstarter for President Trump, who has touted such sales as beneficial to the U.S. economy.
Iran possesses “the largest and most diverse missile arsenal in the Middle East,” according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Most of the stockpile comprises short to medium-range missiles, but some of its longer-range models can reach up to 1,550 miles, putting Eastern and Southern Europe at risk.
The Trump administration has pursued a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iranian regime that includes reinstituting sanctions and adding new ones in an effort to curb its support of terrorist organizations and other malign activity in the Middle East.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have increased in recent months, leading to the United States increasing its military presence in the region. Iran’s shootdown of a U.S. drone near the Strait of Hormuz nearly led to all-out conflict, but Trump decided against a retaliatory strike at the last minute. Iran has also mined ships in the area and threatened to charge a “toll” on foreign ships in exchange for safe passage through the strait. In response, the United States and its allies created Operation Sentinel, which aims to protect commercial shipping.
European signatories have attempted to save the nuclear agreement, wanting to keep trading with Iran. But Esper said he believes they agree with the United States that the country’s current nuclear path is a problem.
“It’s bad for the region, and it’s bad for the continent of Europe as well,” Esper said.
