DENVER — Sen. Michael Bennet prompted a few double-takes this week by saying that he believes the one-year-old Iran nuclear deal is “going well.”
In an interview, the Colorado Democrat, who is up for reelection in November, defended his vote last year in favor of the agreement, saying it was preferable to having no deal.
“I think the deal is going well, so far,” Mr. Bennet said in a Q&A with the Denver Post published Thursday. “Obviously, we have to be vigilant.”
He said Iran has shipped 12 million tons of enriched uranium to Russia as a result of the deal, and that Iran is “at least a year or more from building a nuclear weapon because of the capabilities they have,” which is an improvement from estimates at the time the agreement was struck in August 2015.
“So the bottom line is: One year ago, they were still two to three months away from a bomb and today they are more than a year away from a bomb,” Mr. Bennet said.
He was quickly challenged by foes of the agreement such as Advancing Colorado’s Jonathan Lockwood, who described it as a “terrorist stimulus package.”
“Bennet is willfully blinded to the aggression of the Iranian regime and [has] failed to give any clear answers about critical issues following the passage of the deal,” said Mr. Lockwood in a Friday statement. “Iran can do absolutely nothing to make Bennet scale back his defense of the deal.”
He cited recent examples of aggression by Iran against the U.S. Navy in the Persian Gulf as well as the Obama administration’s $400 million payment to Iran, which has been decried as a ransom payment in exchange for the release of four American hostages.
Mr. Bennet argued that Iran’s reputation came as a reason to strike the deal: “I don’t trust Iran. That’s the point.”
The agreement requires Iran to reduce its uranium stockpile, phase out centrifuges and allow inspections of its nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions, which has helped boost Iran’s economy and allowed the Persian Gulf nation to triple its exports of oil.
A State Department report released in June described Iran as the “foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 2015, providing a wide range of support, including financial, training and equipment, to groups around the world,” including Hezbollah.
“It’s about time Sen. Bennet admitted his vote for the Iran deal was also a vote to give the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism billions of dollars to fund their terrorist activities,” said Matt Connelly, a Republican strategist with Clear Creek Strategies in Denver.
“What’s truly amazing about his statement is that he also indicates he knew the money would go to fund terrorism from the very beginning,” said Mr. Connelly. “Whether it’s his vote for the Iran deal or his support for closing Guantanamo Bay, Sen. Bennet has been dangerous for our national security and his policies are jeopardizing the safety of Coloradans.”
Mr. Bennet demurred when asked whether the $400 million payment was in fact given in exchange for the release of hostages saying, “I want to hear direction from the administration about that.”
His Republican opponent, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Darryl Glenn, has campaigned on withdrawing from the deal, saying it has made America “less safe.”
Mr. Bennet announced his support for the agreement on September 4 after months of speculation and amid an intense media campaign aimed at swaying his vote.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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