U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) recently spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate about the Biden administration’s ongoing negotiations to revive the nuclear deal with Iran. Tuberville also joined 48 other Republican Senators stating they would not support the revived Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran.
“Putin’s unprovoked and brutal invasion of Ukraine did not happen overnight,” Tuberville said in his Senate floor speech. "The warning signs were very, very clear. The response from the Biden administration was anything but [clear].
“President Biden was slow to hit Putin where it hurts. He refused to penalize the Russian energy sector until roughly a week after the invasion took place.”
Tuberville said after over four decades in politics, Biden has shown weakness.
“His foreign policy caves to adversaries, undermines our allies, and devalues the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform,” Tuberville said. “In his first year of office, he abandoned 20 years of effort in Afghanistan and emboldened Putin to attack his neighbor. And as I speak, the White House is [reviving] Iran’s hope of developing a nuclear weapon. Originally brokered when Joe Biden was Vice President, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the JCPOA or the Iran Deal, was a deeply flawed agreement aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. In reality, it did the exact opposite. Nuclear security can't be achieved with wishful thinking, watered-down sanctions, or by sending our adversaries planeloads of cash. Years later, we all know the result – the Iran Deal didn’t work.”
Tuberville claimed Iran will get billions from frozen assets.
“Rather than unleashing the power of the American energy industry and allowing Americans to drill, drill, drill on our own soil the Biden administration would rather do business with Venezuela and plead with Saudi Arabia to turn on the spigots," said Tuberville. "I have a long list of concerns about how these negotiations are unfolding, but at the top are the limited sanctions the administration appears to be open to in exchange for a short-term pause on the development of Tehran’s nuclear program. Let me be clear, these short-term sanctions are not a solution. They weren’t a few years ago, and they’re not today. The administration must not allow Tehran [to] obtain a nuclear weapon.
“The Iran [Nuclear] Deal was a bad deal in 2015 and it would be a worse deal today. The Biden administration should immediately walk away from the negotiating table before these discussions lead to yet another Biden foreign policy disaster.”
The United States, Russia, China, Great Britain, and other major powers agreed to lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for promises that Iran would not use its nuclear program to enrich plutonium in order to make nuclear weapons.
The Trump administration rejected the Obama administration negotiated agreement and the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the agreement. The Biden administration is in talks with Iran about a new agreement, something of which Tuberville and his Republican colleagues are skeptical.
Tuberville represents Alabama in the United States Senate and is a member of the Senate Armed Services, Agriculture, Veterans’ Affairs, and HELP Committees.
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