Dear Friends,
Last week, President Trump declared that the United States was withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which was negotiated by the Obama Administration in 2015.
The premise of President Obama’s Iran deal was that in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, Iran would mitigate its bad behavior, submit to international inspections, and agree to destroy enough nuclear weapon producing materials to prevent it from producing a nuclear bomb.
Yet instead of curbing its destabilizing activities, Iran doubled down on its anti-American activities with more than $100 billion that the deal handed the mullahs.
In the years since the deal was reached, Iran’s military budget has grown by almost 40 percent — while the Iranian people suffer. After the sanctions were lifted, the regime used their new money to invest in nuclear-capable missiles, support terrorism, and cause havoc throughout the Middle East and beyond.
The Iran deal also failed to address the regime’s development of ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads. These conventional weapons, even without nuclear warheads, represent a threat to the United States and our allies, particularly Israel.
Making matters worse, the deal’s inspection provisions lack adequate mechanisms to prevent, detect, and punish cheating by Iran. Under President Obama’s Iran deal, inspectors don’t have the right to inspect many locations, including some military facilities.
President Trump said it best in his address to the nation last week: “If I allowed this deal to stand, there would soon be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Everyone would want their weapons ready by the time Iran had theirs.”
That’s why I support President Trump’s decision to leave the agreement – because we can and we must do better.
As a result of President Trump’s action last week, the United States will reinstate all the sanctions it had waived as part of the nuclear accord, and will impose additional economic penalties that are now being drawn up by the Treasury Department.
As the United States exits the Iran deal, we will be working with our allies to find a real, comprehensive, and lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear threat. This will include efforts to eliminate the threat of Iran’s ballistic missile program, to stop its terrorist activities worldwide, and to block its hostile activity across the Middle East.
I applaud President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA – he is showing the world strength. The president is also showing the world that we will stand by our allies in the region, especially Israel.
Sincerely,
Kay Granger
Member of Congress