Nadler: Iran’s Missile Tests Underscores Importance of Nuclear Deal

Despite the recent violations of UN Security Council resolutions, Congressman Jerry Nadler on Sunday said the Iran nuclear deal is already showing its effectiveness, with Tehran recently shipping 25,000 pounds of low-enriched uranium to Russia.

Shipping its uranium out of the country “tripled the time it would take them to get a nuclear weapon,” Nadler, a Democratic Congressman from Brooklyn, NY, told John Catsimatidis on the “Cats Roundtable” radio program AM 970 in New York. “They did this as part of the agreement, and thus far that’s a great accomplishment for the agreement.”

Since the nuclear deal was signed in July, Iran carried out two ballistic missile tests in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Theses actions prompted Democrats to urge the administration to impose economic sanctions on Iran as a punitive measure but also as a message to Iran’s regime that breaching the terms of the nuclear deal will be met with a greater response.

But Nadler pointed to a recent IAEA report on Iran’s past nuclear activities to underscore the value of the international accord despite the concerns raised by the regime’s recent actions. “This showed — the fact that they were dishonest, which is no great surprise — how important the agreement is to making sure that they don’t get a nuclear weapon,” he stated.

House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer was less optimistic than Nadler. “I am disappointed that the Administration has delayed punitive action in response to Iran’s recent ballistic missile tests,” Hoyer said in a statement on Saturday. “Iran must know with certainty that violating U.N. Security Council resolutions, both inside and outside the scope of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will be met with serious consequences. Under that agreement, Iran’s non-nuclear violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions will merit punitive action, and I will continue to press for decisive action by the United States and our international partners. Otherwise, we will have a serious problem with our credibility in enforcing the JCPOA.”