Pitts on Final Iran Nuclear Agreement Proposal

Statement

Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA) today issued the following statement in response to the Obama Administration's announcement of a final proposed nuclear executive agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran:

"What the United States decides to do about the Islamic Republic of Iran will be the single most important foreign policy decision in the generation since the fall of communism. Iran is the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism, and is attempting to become a regional hegemon. Iran supports the murderous Assad regime in Syria, Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and currently leads the world in executions. Iran holds a number of Americans in prison on false pretenses, and Iranian-backed forces have killed American troops in Iraq.

"In the proposal, the Administration did obtain concessions from Iran, including commitments that Iran would never seek, develop, or acquire any nuclear weapons. However, those concessions and commitments are undermined by the concessions by Western powers, which leave too much room for Tehran to blame eventual disagreements on the United States and the West, possibly as a pretext for reneging on their commitments.

"Negotiation is founded upon trust, and, given the Islamic Republic's past and present behaviors, there can be no trust for such a country as Iran. Now that a final proposal has been reached, Congress has 60 days to review it, with the option of overriding it with a two-thirds supermajority. While I support a diplomatic solution to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, I have serious concerns that relieving sanctions will only strengthen Iran's ability to wage terroristic wars against its neighbors at best, and possibly enable renewed resources to obtaining a nuclear weapon if the regime is not acting in good faith."

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