Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued this statement after Secretary of State John Kerry announced that talks with Iran continue.  Secretary Kerry’s statement comes after the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing on the potential Iran agreement this morning.

Chairman Royce said: “I’m glad to hear that Secretary Kerry isn’t rushing things.  But that doesn’t make me feel any better about where this agreement will end up.     

“We don’t know the details of a final agreement, but we do know its essence: permanent sanctions relief from the U.S. in return for temporary constraints on Iran’s nuclear program.  How is that a good deal?   

“As the Committee heard this morning, these temporary constraints will expire in as little as ten years.  Iran will then have an industrialized nuclear program that could produce material for many nuclear weapons – and have it completely endorsed by this agreement.  One expert told our Committee that this is a “disaster” for nonproliferation in the Middle East – even if Iran doesn’t cheat, like North Korea did. 

“At every step in this process, the Obama Administration has discounted the radical nature of the Tehran regime.  This will be on full display tomorrow, as the regime celebrates “Quds Day,” an annual anti-Israel extravaganza in which the regime will rally against Israel’s very existence.  I hope that the Obama Administration will watch this spectacle and ask is this deal really the best it can do?” 

 

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