Sen. Saxby Chambliss said Sunday he is no fan of the new deal to ease economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for concessions on that country’s nuclear program, saying the Senate likely will move ahead to tighten sanctions that are working.”
We’ve got all the leverage in the negotiation, and we’ve let them out of the trap,” Mr. Chambliss, Georgia Republican, told ABC’s “This Week With George Stephanopoulos.”
The deal, announced early Sunday, followed an intensive diplomatic push by Secretary of State John F. Kerry and five foreign ministers to curb Iran’s suspected nuclear-weapons program.
Mr. Chambliss, a member of the Armed Services Committee and the Select Committee on Intelligence, said the United States has trusted the likes of Iran and North Korea before, and “what have we gotten for it?”
“They’re going to continue to be able to replace centrifuges that become inoperable, and I just don’t see this movement in the direction of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon at all,” Mr. Chambliss said. “And what we’re going to be doing is we’re going to be easing sanctions. Right now the sanctions are working. They’re doing exactly what they’re designed to do.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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