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deal or no deal

No path forward on Iran without nuclear agreement, Murphy says

Murphy’s comments come on the heels of a briefing that left Senate leaders pessimistic about the chances of entering into any new agreement with Iran

Photo: Paul Morigi

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT)

A day after some Senate leaders emerged from a classified briefing with Secretary of State Tony Blinken offering a pessimistic outlook on the chances of re-entering the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) told Jewish Insider that the deal remains the U.S.’s only viable option for dealing with Iran.

Murphy, who did not attend Wednesday’s meeting and said he was not familiar with what was said, has been one of the most prominent voices in the Senate in favor of quick reentry into the 2015 deal, including urging the President Joe Biden to roll back sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in exchange for Iranian compliance with the deal.

“I don’t accept the premise that we can’t find a way back into this deal. It will require hard choices by the United States, difficult choices by the Iranians, but I don’t see a path forward without being inside this deal,” Murphy said. “I still believe that our only course of action is to get back into the deal.”

Barring an agreement, the Iranians will continue to “ratchet up their provocation of their allies and their destabilizing activity, and they will speed towards a nuclear weapon,” Murphy suggested, a situation he described as “a disaster.”

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