Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser and key Iran deal proponent, advised President Obama’s successor not to pull out of the nuclear agreement with Iran, saying it could trigger a war.
Walking away from the agreement with Iran and six world powers runs “counter to the whole concept of how one initiates a president — to decide that one of the first things I’m going to do is precipitate a crisis in the Middle East. It just doesn’t seem like a wise thing to do,” he told the Atlantic Council on Thursday when asked if he’s concerned about the next president ending the deal.
A “basic principle is you don’t come into office and create a massive new problem for yourself,” he said.
Rhodes’ comments point to Donald Trump, who has repeatedly assailed the deal during the campaign.
Rhodes said pulling out of the deal could prompt Tehran to continue pursuing a nuclear weapon, trigger another war in the region and upset allies, Rhodes said.
Pulling out would “alienate the United States from all our major allies who helped us negotiate the deal … and you’d be doing that for what purpose?” he asked.
“The way in which the Iran deal is structured creates enormous disincentives for an incoming president to tear it up,” he added, explaining that because all commitments had to be honored upfront, ending it later would undo decades’ worth of progress.
