Hurd on the Hill: A Bad Deal

Statement

Iran Cannot Be Trusted

I was asked this week what part of the Iran Nuclear Deal I was most concerned about. To be frank, it's hard to pick just one thing. But it really comes down this - I don't trust the Iranian government to actually keep their word.

I dealt with a lot of bad guys during my time in the CIA. One thing I learned is that previous actions are a good indicator of future ones. Iran has shown us over and over again that they are not to be trusted. The United Nation's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA, has kept a close eye on Iran and for good reason. In a seven year span, the IAEA issued 30 reports finding that Iran was hiding segments of their nuclear program, leading to four rounds of sanctions.

What evidence do we have that Iran has changed and can be trusted now? None.

Just recently, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran said that the U.S. was an "arrogant power which must be resisted even after a deal." On Saturday his Twitter account tweeted out an image depicting a gun being held to President Obama's head and the text, "if war happens, the one who will emerge loser will be the aggressive and criminal U.S."

Besides the concern I have with their own words, their actions also deserve scrutiny. I've seen no confidence-building measures that give me a reason to trust them. Even under current sanctions, Iran continues to put billions towards state-sponsored terror, including providing munitions to Taliban and Iraqi militias that have been directly tied to the deaths of at least 500 U.S. service members. Their support of the terrorist organization Hezbollah has increased terror worldwide and they are also building out their offensive cyber capabilities, posing a significant threat to the infrastructure of the United States and our allies.

Simply put, they've done nothing to give any indication that their animosity towards America and the principles of freedom is going to change. Quite the opposite.

And yet, despite all the evidence, many of my colleagues and other leaders in Washington question whether or not Iran has malicious intent.

In my opinion, we have all the evidence we need to conclude that Iran's leaders are not to be trusted. Unless a deal includes giving the IAEA unfettered access to Iran's facilities, it shouldn't even be taken seriously. And until then, lifting sanctions on Iran only accomplishes one thing -- allowing them to export terror to an even greater degree.

I gave warning back in March that we were heading towards a bad deal and I've seen nothing in what's been sent to Congress to make me believe otherwise. This deal should be rejected and even greater sanctions imposed upon the Iranian government until they see reason.

Instead of spending the last few months negotiating with our enemies in order to give them relief, we should have been reasoning with our allies on the best way to domesticate this wild tiger we are all endangered by.

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