Sens Carper & Coons React to US Withdrawing from Iran Nuclear Deal
This afternoon President Trump announced his decision to withdraw the US out of the Iran nuclear deal that was struck during the Obama Administration. The President’s announcement begins a 90-day countdown to the restoration of sanctions and once the sanctions are back in place, the US effectively would be out of the deal.
Click here for the President’s Statement
Delaware’s Democrat US Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons have each released statements on President Trump’s announcement.
Carper Statement on Trump’s Decision to End U.S. Compliance with the Iran Nuclear Deal
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement regarding President Trump’s decision to end the United States’ compliance with the Iran nuclear deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA):
“I often say that real leaders don’t build themselves up by tearing other people down. From the Trans-Pacific Partnership to the Paris Agreement and nowthe Iran nuclear deal, President Trump seems to be solely driven by his desire to tear down good policies simply because they are President Obama’s achievements.
“Yet again, our self-proclaimed ‘dealmaker’ president is irrationally walking away from a carefully crafted international deal with absolutely no alternative deal in place. President Trump’s irresponsible and shortsighted decision today ultimately increases the odds of armed conflict with Iran, and could needlessly provoke a nuclear arms race in the region.
“President Trump’s dangerous obsession with dismantling President Obama’s legacy, rather than building on the progress we’ve made, puts our national security at risk. It also puts what could be a historic agreement with a far more volatile country like North Korea even further out of reach. If the United States cannot be trusted to uphold its commitment to our allies – despite the fact that, by all accounts, Iran has upheld its end of the nuclear deal – there is no reason to believe that other countries, let alone nuclear armed ones like North Korea, will be willing to negotiate with us in good faith. President Trump’s action today has set back future diplomatic efforts by ensuring that the United States’ word is worth far less.
“Thomas Friedman has described the Trump doctrine as, ‘Obama built it. I broke it. You fix it.’ It is clear that analysis still holds true and that, in the short term, President Trump is willing to sacrifice our standing in the world for political gain. However, I am hopeful that, despite the damage President Trump seems determined to inflict, this carefully crafted agreement will ultimately withstand. That requires Iran and our allies to remain committed to this agreement now so that the United States may re-enter it when cooler, more rational heads prevail.”
Sen. Coons’ statement on the Iran nuclear agreement
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement after President Trump announced that the United States will pull out of the nuclear agreement between the United States, Iran, and world powers (comprised of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, China, and the European Union).
“President Trump’s decision to pull the United States out of the nuclear agreement is a mistake. This decision will likely make it harder for the United States and the international community to monitor Iran’s nuclear program, it divides us from our European allies, and it raises legitimate questions about the United States’ ability to lead the international community in the face of crisis.
“Like the President, I remain deeply concerned by Iran’s continued support for terrorism in the region, its commitment to prop up the murderous Assad regime in Syria, its human rights abuses, and its ballistic missile program, but I question how walking away from the nuclear deal makes it any easier to deal with those challenges.
“Today’s decision from President Trump produces only new, increasingly difficult questions. What is his strategy for preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon? How do we now ensure that Iran does not restart its nuclear weapons program without the inspections and access guaranteed by the agreement? How can we lead an international coalition to push back against Iran after abandoning an agreement with which Iran has largely complied? What reasonable expectation is there for a new, stronger deal with Iran? Why would our international partners honor any deal we might strike with North Korea?
“On issues as serious as nuclear nonproliferation in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula, the stakes are high. I share President Trump’s goals of ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon and denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, but we differ greatly in how we approach these problems. Bluster is not a strategy and the alliances we have built over the past 70 years matter.”
“Last year, the Senate passed, with an overwhelming, bipartisan vote of 98-2, a bill providing President Trump additional authority and support to levy sanctions against Iran. That bill also required the President to deliver a strategy for dealing with Iran by this past January, something he has failed to do. Today’s announcement is further proof that President Trump does not have a clear strategy for dealing with Iran, and that is dangerous not only for the United States, but also for the world.”
