Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) will soon introduce new legislation that aims to dismantle the remaining portions of the Iran nuclear deal by revoking the nuclear sanctions waivers that the Trump administration approved last week. Those sanctions waivers allow Iran to work on the country’s nuclear weapons program while talks continue between Tehran and Washington, D.C.
The Washington Free Beacon’s Adam Kredo reported last week that the sanctions waivers “permit the Islamic Republic to engage in sensitive nuclear work, including at a clandestine military location that has housed the country’s weapons program” and allow “China and Russia to continue performing work at Iranian nuclear facilities, some of which have drawn concerns from the international community for potentially helping Iran gain the know-how to build a functional nuclear weapon.”
In a new report by Kredo on Monday, Cheney told the Free Beacon that the waivers have legitimized Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program.
“These ‘civil nuclear’ waivers legitimize Iran’s illicit nuclear infrastructure and help sustain President Obama’s disastrous nuclear deal,” Cheney said. “Congress is determined to support President Donald Trump’s rightful exit from that deal and his successful maximum pressure campaign against Tehran.”
Cheney continued, “That is why I will soon be introducing legislation that revokes these exceptions and ensures that the nuclear deal is totally and completely dismantled.”
The Trump administration’s shift in policy toward Iran has caused concerned among Trump’s top allies in Washington, as it is a break from his promised “maximum pressure” campaign against the Iran, which is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.
Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) expressed their frustration with the administration last week over the decision to give Iran its latest waivers.
In a joint statement, the senators wrote:
This is disappointing and another lost opportunity to tear up the catastrophic Obama-Iran nuclear deal once and for all. President Trump should immediately order his administration to stop issuing civil nuclear waivers. These waivers allow Iran to build up its nuclear program, including at their Fordow nuclear bunker, which they dug out of the side of a mountain to build nuclear weapons. Iran is now openly violating the nuclear deal and stockpiling dangerous nuclear material. There is no justification for letting them continue to build up their program. We intend to work with our Congressional colleagues to advance legislation to reverse this misguided decision.
U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement last week that the decision would “help preserve oversight of Iran’s civil nuclear program, reduce proliferation risks, constrain Iran’s ability to shorten its ‘breakout time’ to a nuclear weapon, and prevent the regime from reconstituting sites for proliferation-sensitive purposes.”
Kredo further noted that Iran announced today it is moving forward with installing key components that will allow it to quickly enrich uranium — which is a violation of the nuclear deal.
Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, reportedly told Iranian state media, “We have installed 15 new-generation centrifuges in the past two months which is a very big achievement.”
Meanwhile, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated this week that Iran “must not engage in negotiations” in order to “prevent and block America from entering [Iran] again.”
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: We must Not Engage in Negotiations with America in Order to Prevent It from Entering Iran Again pic.twitter.com/0MXlge3ma9
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) November 4, 2019