Senator John Thune (R-SD) said that he “wouldn’t put it past” the president to bypass Congress on Iran, which he stated would be “insane” on Friday’s “Hugh Hewitt Show.”
“I wouldn’t put it past him, but that’s insane. You know, you think about what that means, and how is this thing enforceable, and if you want to, the President can suspend the sanctions. But Congress imposed them. Only Congress can lift them. So I just don’t, I have no idea what their rationale or the logic or the thinking would be behind that. But they are desperate, I think, to go around the people’s representatives in the Congress with regard to this deal. And as we hear some of those rumors, I certainly hope they’re not true. And I guess time will tell” he declared.
Thune also discussed what he thought would be a good deal with Iran, arguing “I think start with behavioral change on behalf of the regime. I mean, they are the leading state sponsor of terror in the world. They fund and arm Hezbollah in Lebanon, they fund and arm Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen and the Shiia militias in Iraq. I mean, this is a regime that’s literally taken over numerous capitals in the Middle East. So that would be a good place to start. But secondly, I don’t think you can put a sunset on this, Hugh, and I think you’ve got to have something that prevents them from acquiring a nuclear capability. All this says, basically, is okay, we know you’re going to get it, it’s just a question of when, and we’re going to do what we can to delay that for a while. That’s not going to be very much comfort or reassurance to the Saudis or the Egyptians or any of those countries in the Middle East who I think are going to, there’s going to be a nuclear arms race in the Middle East if it becomes clear to any of these countries that Iran is close to breaking out with a nuclear bomb.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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