Politics

Democratic Senator Says Passing Iran Nuke Deal Will Increase Likelihood Of Military Option [VIDEO]

Steve Guest Media Reporter
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Democrat Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin blasted the Iranian nuclear deal Tuesday, saying, “I think there’s a higher risk of potential military operation if we go forward with this agreement, because we don’t have effective sanctions once they’ve been removed.”

Cardin, speaking on the floor of the Senate, argued the Iranian deal “puts Iran, after the time period, in a position of enrichment of Uranium that is dangerously close to being able to break out to a nuclear weapon in compliance with the agreement, being legal they can get to that point.”

Ben Cardin: It was a close call, but I decided that I could not support the agreement. And I’d just like to share with you why I cannot support the agreement. And Senator Corker mentioned this. It puts Iran, after the time period, in a position of enrichment of Uranium that is dangerously close to being able to break out to a nuclear weapon in compliance with the agreement, being legal they can get to that point. And at that point they’ve already gotten sanction relief, so they’re in a much better financial position to be able to withstand any pressures that could be put on Iran. They then, we know that they want to become a nuclear-weapon state. They’ve tried in the past. We know that. That’s pretty well been documented. We have no reason to believe that they’re going to change their intentions. So if they want to become a nuclear-weapon state and they make the calculation that we really don’t have a sanctioned way to stop them because at that point their economic strength is strong enough and sanctions take too long to really bite and take effect, it would not be an effective deterrent to erase the breakout. And here’s the key point of concern to me, and I acknowledge to all my colleagues that I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. This is a close call. But I think there’s a higher risk of potential military operation if we go forward with this agreement, because we don’t have effective sanctions once they’ve been removed. That concerns me, because, Mr. President, I don’t think a military option is a good option. I don’t believe it will eliminate the threat, and it has a lot of collateral issues involved with the military operation.

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