Oct. 18 marked the one-year anniversary of the adoption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, more commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal.
Over my summer in Washington, D.C., I had the pleasure to attend a hearing in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations entitled “The Iran Nuclear Agreement: One Year Later,” chaired by Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee. It was great experience to have that front row seat, and the hearing gave me a much better understanding of the thinking that went into the deal.
But it also exposed why the deal is so bad.
One thing that immediately struck me was that Iran was compensated as soon as the deal was signed. They didn’t even have to comply. It is no secret that Iran is the number one state sponsor of terror in the world. They regularly threaten America and one of our closest allies, Israel. Now, they will have around $100 billion of assets unfrozen, which will kick-start their faltering economy, allowing them to sponsor further terror operations.
Next, the deal’s oversight isn’t exactly comprehensive. The deal states that the International Atomic Energy Agency can have 24/7 access to declared nuclear facilities within Iran. Unfortunately, they can only press for access to suspected sites and military sites. This is a major deficiency in the deal. Iran knows that they can escape being caught if they engage in nuclear operations elsewhere and simply deny the IAEA access.
As if this wasn’t enough, the deal doesn’t entirely dismantle Iranian breakout capabilities. Under the conditions of the deal, Iran can continue to enrich uranium, a process that is essential to developing nuclear capabilities.
The deal dictates that Iran will have conventional arms embargoes lifted in 5 years and ballistic missile embargoes lifted in 8, unless the IAEA clears Iran of all nuclear activities earlier. This may be one of the most foolish aspects of the deal. If the IAEA can only have full access to declared nuclear sites, they have no way of truly verifying that Iran’s nuclear program is non-operational.
Thus, it is perfectly feasible that Iran could confine their activities to undisclosed nuclear sites, deny the IAEA access, have the ballistic missile embargo lifted and breakout before the United States could react.
This represents a huge national security risk for the United States. Iran’s geopolitical situation, coupled with nuclear capabilities, would significantly embolden their foreign policy. Twenty percent of the world’s oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which sits along Iran’s southern coastline. If the Iranians were to cut off the strait with their navy, buoyed by a hypothetical nuclear bomb, they could put a major strain on the American and world oil market. This cannot be allowed to be happen. If it does, war could break out, or worse.
The JCPOA is a really bad deal for America and significantly weakens U.S. national security. This November, I will be taking support for the deal into consideration when deciding who to vote for. I hope you will as well.
