President Joe Biden’s new deal with Iran would make him the “number 1 funder of terrorism in the world,” Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said on Thursday.
Cruz shared the remarks during an interview shared by National Review on Thursday regarding a planned nuclear deal between the Biden administration and Iran.
“It is likely to make Joe Biden the No. 1 funder of terrorism in the world. Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world. They deliberately target American citizens for murder,” Cruz, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, according to the outlet. “And Joe Biden, for whatever reason, is eager to fund terrorists trying to murder Americans.”
Biden is committed to a new deal with Iran that will pour hundreds of billions of dollars into the terrorist regime. Let's be clear about what that means.
Biden is about to become, literally, the number 1 funder of terrorism in the world. https://t.co/XhoDVYAIU9
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 18, 2022
Cruz also introduced legislation on Wednesday to prohibit the Biden administration from waiving Congressional sanctions that prohibit cooperation on Iran’s nuclear program.
In February, the Biden administration notified Congress that it was giving Iran and its international partners, including Russia, a waiver for seven civil nuclear activities, which Iran uses to build its nuclear program, according to Cruz. He previously fought to rescind those waivers, which the Trump administration did in 2019 and 2020.
SB 3857 is co-sponsored by Sens. Cotton (R-AR), Cassidy (R-LA), Cramer (R-ND), Ernst (R-IA), Braun (R-IN), Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Hoeven (R-ND), Tillis (R-NC), Blackburn (R-TN), Hagerty (R-TN), and Inhofe (R-OK).
This week the Biden administration confirmed that the waivers will allow Russia to conduct projects with Iran valued at $10 billion, according to a statement from Cruz.
“The Biden administration is dismantling sanctions and is aching to secure a new agreement with the Iranian regime that is even weaker than the original catastrophic Obama-Iran nuclear deal. The Biden administration is so committed to their deal that they are willing to make Iran a nuclear client for Putin, including work that amounts to a $10 billion subsidy for his war machine,” Cruz said in the statement.
“That’s why I’ve introduced legislation to stop the Biden administration from issuing civil-nuclear waivers allowing Russia to build up Iran’s nuclear program. The Ayatollah exploits these civil nuclear waivers to build up Iran’s nuclear program with the express intention of eventually developing nuclear weapons to inflict destruction on America and our allies,” the senator added. “When he chants ‘Death to Israel’ and ‘Death to America,’ he means it. President Trump rightly ended these waivers, and now the Biden administration is resurrecting them. It’s unconscionable, and Congress must put a stop to it.”
In a Twitter post on Thursday, Cruz also called Biden’s actions regarding Iran “insane.”
“It is insane. Biden wants to gut Russia sanctions and allow Putin to make billions of dollars – by building up the Ayatollah’s nuclear program,” he wrote.
It is insane. Biden wants to gut Russia sanctions and allow Putin to make billions of dollars – by building up the Ayatollah’s nuclear program.
If the Biden admin expressly wanted to embolden Putin and give Iran nukes, they wouldn’t be doing anything different. https://t.co/vCS9dtk3Jw
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) March 17, 2022
“If the Biden admin expressly wanted to embolden Putin and give Iran nukes, they wouldn’t be doing anything different,” he added.
On Monday, Cruz released a statement with 48 other Republican senators declaring they will block and reverse any new agreement with Iran that will weaken sanctions and impose fewer restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program than the original Iran deal.
“We strongly urge the administration, our Democrat colleagues, and the international community to learn the lessons of the very recent past. A major agreement that does not have strong bipartisan support in Congress will not survive,” they wrote.