The Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday said the United States should “enforce the hell” out of the Iran nuclear rather than pull out, The Hill reports.
“As flawed as the deal is, I believe we must now enforce the hell out of it,” Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) said during a committee hearing on confronting Iran.
The remarks come as a deadline approaches for President Donald Trump to tell Congress whether Iran remains in compliance with the deal and whether the deal remains in the national interest of the U.S.
Under a law passed by Congress in 2015, the president must make such a certification every 90 days. The next deadline is Sunday.
All reports indicate that Trump is expected to decertify the nuclear deal after having made the certification twice before.
Decertfication would start the clock on a 60-day period during which Congress can re-impose sanctions using a fast-track procedure.
In his remarks Wednesday, Royce said whatever decision Trump makes, he must fully explain his reasoning.
“Whatever he decides, it is critical that the president lay out the facts,” Royce said, adding, “He should explain what his decision means, and what it doesn’t. And then, I hope – as I have tried to do here today – the president will define a responsible path forward to confront the full range of threats posed by Iran.”
Despite saying the U.S. should stay in the deal, Royce also knocked the Obama administration as producing a “flawed” deal based on a “gamble” that Iran would then become a more responsible actor.
“While the nuclear deal may have constrained Iran’s ability to produce fissile material, these restrictions begin to sunset in less than a decade, leaving Iran with an industrial enrichment capability,” Royce said.
“The reluctance of international inspectors today to demand access to military bases means that we don’t know to what extent Iran is engaged in the complex – but more easily hidden – work of designing a nuclear warhead,” he added.
Shortly after the deal was reached in the summer of 2015, Royce blasted the agreement as "deeply flawed" and said the agreement would make the world "less safe." At the time, he also introduced legislation that would have prevented the implementation of the deal.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)