House Speaker Paul Ryan said he supports the idea of placing additional sanctions on Iran in the wake of Tehran testing a ballistic missile — a blatant violation of the terms of the Iranian nuclear agreement.
Ryan said he believes the Obama administration was too lenient with Iran, suggesting the weaker approach possibly enabled the country to be “far more activist than it otherwise would be.”
“I would be in favor of additional sanctions on Iran, I think, I’d like to put as much toothpaste back in the tube as possible,” Ryan told reporters at his weekly press conference Thursday.
Ryan noted Iran is one of the largest sponsors of terror in the world, adding they have not acted as an ally to the United States in the past. According to the speaker, the U.S. needs to take a hard line with the country that has repeatedly violated the nuclear deal supported by President Barack Obama.
“It’s the biggest state sponsor of terror in the world — Iran writes on their missiles in Farsi, Hebrew and English ‘death to America, death to Israel’ then tests them, so this is not a friendly country that has global peace or national security interest in their mind, so yes I think we need to have a tough on Iran policy,” he said. “I think we should stop appeasing Iran.”
Ryan’s comments echo those of President Donald Trump, who announced Iran has formally been put on notice by his administration Thursday.
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