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Intel Committee Ranking Member Schiff Statement on Iran

Washington, DC — Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement:

“There is no question that Iran, with its oppressive regime, is a malignant force in the region and beyond, and its state sponsorship of terror has made Iran a pariah among nations. But President Trump’s renewed threat to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement threatens to isolate the United States, not Iran, by putting us at odds with almost the entirety of the international community. And his demand of Congress that it append new, unilateral conditions attempts to punt to Congress the responsibility for doing so.

“Nobody has ever argued that the 2015 JCPOA was a perfect agreement, but it remains the most effective means of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon without resorting to force. Threatening to terminate the deal and maintaining a travel ban on Iranians does nothing to improve our security and does a great deal to undermine the Iranian people who have taken to the streets to protest the corruption and economic stagnation in their country. Repudiation of the agreement also undermines any effort to negotiate an end to the North Korean nuclear program.

“There is only one thing worse than a state sponsor of terror, and that is a state sponsor of terror with nuclear weapons. Abrogation of the agreement by the U.S. would make that prospect more likely, not less.” 

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