The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee is calling on President Trump to “enforce the hell” out of the Iran nuclear deal rather than doing away with it completely.
Trump signaled he was near the point of scrapping the deal during his first appearance before the United Nation’s General Assembly Tuesday, saying the agreement forged by former President Barack Obama is “an embarrassment to the United States.”
However, Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., argued that since Iran has already received billions of dollars from sanctions being lifted against the country, the best course of action is to more stringently enforce the nuclear deal.
“They now have this money. So, in a way the toothpaste is out of the tube,” Royce told CNN.
“So, going forward, how do we focus on compliance and enforcement of the agreement and preventing them from moving forward with their intercontinental ballistic missile programs as well as their movement of troops to the border with Israel into Syria, across from the Golan Heights? These are the big challenges,” he added.
The president said earlier this week “you’ll see very” soon when asked if he intended to abandon the agreement many Republicans have said does little to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Royce didn’t commit to supporting a withdrawal from the agreement but argued strict enforcement of the deal could coerce Iran into complying with it.
“I think we should enforce the hell out of the agreement and thereby force compliance on the part of Iran,” Royce said.
