Sen. Tom Cotton said Tuesday that if President Trump quits the Iran nuclear, the U.S. will be prepared to respond — including with military force — if Iran starts building a nuclear bomb.
“If that’s Iran’s choice, then we’ll be prepared for that choice, and we’ll take what actions are necessary, whether those are economic, political, diplomatic or military,” Mr. Cotton, a member of the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services committees, said on “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”
Mr. Trump is scheduled to announce at 2 p.m. his decision on whether to quit the Iran nuclear deal.
The president has called the Obama-era agreement the worst deal ever made and has been threatening to walk away from it since he took office.
The agreement lifted economic sanctions on Iran in return for halting the Islamic regime’s nuclear program until 2025.
Mr. Cotton stressed that Mr. Trump has unquestionable authority to quit the deal because the Senate did not ratify the agreement.
“That deal was a very bad deal for the United States,” he said. “It gave all kinds of concession, it gave billions of dollars in sanctions relief, and it didn’t ultimately stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. It really didn’t even delay them, given their own technological development timelines.”
Mr. Trump has been pressured by European leaders to keep the deal in place and add further measures to curb Iran’s aggression in the Middle East, including extending the nuclear moratorium beyond 2025, halting Iran’s missile tests and punishing its support of terrorism.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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