Ayotte Statement on Administration's Iran Policy

Statement

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today regarding reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has detained 10 U.S. Navy sailors:

"I urge the president and his administration to demand that Iran immediately release our service members, and I hope the president will make clear to Tehran in his speech tonight that any delay in the release of our service members will not be tolerated.

"In the past few months since the president finalized the nuclear deal with Iran, Tehran has conducted two tests of ballistic missiles capable of carrying a nuclear weapon in violation of a UN Security Council Resolution, unveiled a new underground ballistic missile depot, fired rockets near a U.S. aircraft carrier, refused to release Americans unjustly imprisoned, and continued its support for terrorist groups that has earned Iran its reputation as the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism.

"Given Iran's actions, it is unthinkable that the administration would lift sanctions and permit Iran to receive billions of dollars in sanctions relief under the nuclear agreement, even as the regime brazenly violates its international obligations and rushes to develop the ballistic missile capability to deliver a potential nuclear weapon to the United States."

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