52 GOP senators told the president that the party is united on completely eliminating Iran’s ability to enrich uranium
Fifty-two Senate Republicans on Wednesday reminded President Donald Trump why he withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in the first place as the administration negotiates with Tehran on another potential agreement.
The group of GOP senators, led by Pete Ricketts (R., Neb.), wrote in a letter that the president was correct in his 2017 assessment of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), specifically in that it did not completely end Iran’s uranium enrichment program. The message to Trump comes days after the fourth round of talks between American and Iranian representatives on a new agreement between the two countries.
“During your first term you withdrew the United States from the deeply broken Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and imposed maximum pressure on the regime,” Ricketts and his colleagues wrote. “As you said then, a fatal flaw of the deal was that it ‘allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and, over time, reach the brink of a nuclear breakout.’”
The senators continued, writing that the Trump administration has “correctly drawn a redline against any deal that allows Iran to retain any enrichment capability” and mentioning that the White House in February identified even a non-military nuclear program as an “existential danger to the United States.”
The GOP senators—the entire Republican Conference save for Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.)—took aim at former president Joe Biden’s actions toward the Islamic Republic, arguing that the previous administration’s decisions to reverse Trump’s Iran policies had disastrous consequences.
“They immediately rescinded your decision to reimpose U.N. sanctions, allowed Iran to sell oil at JCPOA-levels, and even re-issued waivers allowing Iran to build out its nuclear program,” the letter reads. “As you predicted, these policies indeed allowed Iran to reach the brink of nuclear breakout, which is where they are today.”
The 52 Senate Republicans assured Trump that GOP lawmakers are united in preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
“We cannot afford another agreement that enables Iran to play for time, as the JCPOA did,” the senators wrote. “The Iranian regime should know that the administration has Congressional backing to ensure their ability to enrich uranium is permanently eliminated.”
The Senate Republicans wrote to Trump just days after Sens. Katie Britt (R., Ala.), Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), and Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) introduced a resolution demanding the “complete dismantlement and destruction of Iran’s nuclear program,” a goal Trump said he shares.
The president said in an interview earlier this month that “total dismantlement” is “all [he] would accept,” and despite some earlier mixed signals on his part, special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff made clear that “Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.”
The Islamic Republic, though, has maintained that it will not give up civilian enrichment as part of a new deal.
“Enrichment is one of the achievements and honors of the Iranian nation,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said before talks began.
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