The Obama administration’s nuclear deal with the Iranian regime is “starting to unravel” and needs to be quickly supplemented with tough U.S. action, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Paul Ryan, said on Monday.
In an op-ed for the Independent Journal Review, Ryan wrote: “When you get down to it, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that the Obama administration essentially misled the American people on the Iran deal—or at least misled itself.”
“Everything the administration told us about the deal is starting to unravel.”
Months after sanctions were lifted on the Iranian regime as part of the nuclear deal, Tehran has refused to fall in line with broader tenets of the international order, The Hill wrote on Monday.
Among other points, the Iranian regime has conducted multiple ballistic missile tests, briefly held captive U.S. Navy sailors and continued tough rhetoric against Saudi Arabia and Israel — two American allies, the report said.
And the U.S. is only encouraging the Iranian regime’s behavior, critics say, by spending $8.6 million to buy Iranian heavy water — which is used in nuclear reactors — and suggesting that it might have some access to the U.S. financial system.
“The administration can spin it anyway it likes, but this was a bad deal,” Ryan wrote.
“Before this president leaves office, we must do everything possible to prevent his administration from making further concessions to Iran. This includes blocking any attempt to make it easier for the mullahs in Tehran to conduct their trade in dollars. We are also committed to renewing the Iran Sanctions Act by the end of this year,” he added.