House Republicans excoriated President Obama for his Iran deal in their weekly address, a day after they took a symbolic vote disapproving of it.
“Unfortunately, President Obama’s policies embolden Iran’s leaders,” said Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, saying it puts Iran on a “glide-path” to a nuclear weapon. “Instead of countering the regime’s terrorist networks, the White House let them spread. And the President allowed Iran to get closer to a nuclear weapon.”
Republicans are ultimately unable to block the deal between the U.S., Iran and five other nations, which is expected to take effect next week. Under the agreement, Iran will be freed of international sanctions in return for restrictions intended to halt its pursuit of nuclear weapons. Republicans have fought hard against the deal, saying it’s a bad agreement and a sign of American weakness.
“Congress has spent several weeks reviewing this agreement and listening to the American people. It is now clear that this deal will not stop a nuclear Iran — but will instead endanger America and our allies for years to come,” McCaul said.
“It will leave Iran with the ingredients for a bomb and the infrastructure to build it,” he said. “Rather than stopping nuclear proliferation, this puts the Middle East at the starting line of a nuclear arms race.”
While many foreign policy experts have said the deal could be the U.S.’s best shot of reining in Iran’s nuclear program, critics charge that it includes major weaknesses, like infusing Iran with billions of dollars as sanctions are lifted. McCaul hit on that point, saying it will free up more than $100 billion “to fuel the regime’s global campaign of Islamist terror.”
“Radical Sunni groups — from [the Islamic State] to al Qaeda—are spreading like wildfire across the globe,” he said. “But we cannot forget that the radical Shi’a regime in Iran remains the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism.”
He also said that Iran is responsible for more than 1,000 American deaths during the Iraq war, has plotted a terrorist attack in the capital and launched cyber-attacks against American companies. The deal, McCaul charged, will leave Iran with the ingredients for a bomb and the infrastructure to build it.
“Let us be clear-eyed about the deal,” McCaul said. “This was not a negotiation with an honest government. It was a negotiation with terrorists, who chant ‘Death to America’ and stand against freedom and democracy.”
The House passed a resolution Friday 269-192 disapproving of the deal, with 25 Democrats siding with Republicans. But Senate Republicans have failed to gather enough votes to block it, as all but four Democrats are siding with Obama.
