House Speaker Paul Ryan said he backs President Trump’s decision not to certify the nuclear deal with Iran, which he said is “fatally flawed” and “not sufficient” to stop Iran’s ballistic missile test firing and sponsorship of terrorism.
“The nuclear agreement struck by the previous administration with Iran is fatally flawed,” said Ryan, R-Wis.
“Not only did it codify Tehran’s domestic enrichment capability, but once key restraints expire in the coming years, the regime will be free to pursue nuclear weapons under the guise of international legitimacy. All the while, Iran has continued to test-fire ballistic missiles and finance its terrorist proxies across the globe. Simply enforcing a fatally flawed agreement is not sufficient. I support President Trump’s decision to reevaluate this dangerous deal, and the House will work with his administration to counter Iran’s range of destabilizing activities.”
Ryan said Congress will work with the Trump administration “to counter Iran’s range of destabilizing activities.”
Trump said Friday he wants Congress to work on legislation that would impose much tougher and permanent sanctions against Iran, and warned that without putting more pressure on Iran, the U.S. would walk away from the Iran nuclear deal.
Other top Republicans said the nuclear deal is flawed and must be addressed by Congress.
“We are committed to work with the president to address these flaws, hold Iran strictly accountable to its commitments, and support efforts to counter all the Iranian threats,” House Foreign Affairs panel chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement. “We’ll take an important step to that end on the House floor by passing bills to increase sanctions unrelated to JCPOA that target Iran’s support for terrorism and its ballistic missile program when Congress returns in the coming weeks.”
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said decertification is a first step in stopping Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism in the region.
“It’s crucial that the Trump administration’s new, tougher Iran policy will be well-resourced and aggressively implemented, and that the administration designate the regime’s entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror group,” Nunes, D-Calif., said. “I hope to see our allies join us in sending a strong, united message that the Iranian regime’s support for international terrorism and its nuclear ambitions will no longer be tolerated.”
Predictably, top Democrats condemned the move.
Sen. Ben Cardin, of Maryland, who is the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called it “one of the most dangerous and consequential decisions the President has made imperiling U.S. national security.”
