Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) said the Iran deal has “the good, the bad, and the ugly” and will be “ugly next decade” when Iran “will be a threshold nuclear state” on Thursday’s “America’s Newsroom” on the Fox News Channel.
He stated, “You’ve got the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good is — in the first year, they get rid of most of their stockpile, they mothball 2/3ds of their centrifuges. The bad is short-term, and that is they get their hands on $120 billion of their own money. The ugly is next decade, when they could have a[n] enrichment facility of unlimited size, they can have centrifuges of unlimited efficiency, and under that standpoint they will be a threshold nuclear state.”
Later Sherman said, “letting Iran get its hands on its own money is the bad part of this deal. On the other hand, 2/3rds of their centrifuges, 95% of their stockpile, is the good at the beginning. So, there’s good and bad at the beginning, it’s ugly next decade.”
Sherman added, that while he doesn’t think it’s worth debating whether the US met all of its goals, but rather whether the deal is good or bad, “I think it’s important that this deal not be binding on future administrations and future congresses.”
Earlier, Sherman argued, “it will be very hard for us to have foreign policy if we try to block the administration from what it wants to do. So, Congress will be pulling foreign policy in one direction, if the president remains dedicated to this deal, he’ll be pulling in the other direction. I’ve never seen a country try to run foreign policy that way. So, we may see a situation where the president abides by this deal for the next year and a half. It’s got some good points, it’s got some bad points short term.”
He was then asked if the increased money Iran will get under the deal would put American lives in jeopardy, he answered, “I think American lives are in jeopardy with the deal, and without the deal. Because Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism.” And the deal “diminishes the risk that Iran will have a nuclear weapon in the next few years, thereby reducing, and at the same time it gives Iran a lot of money. Now, keep in mind, it’s their own money, we’re releasing — it’s being released to them. It is their money. Most of it, they will use for two things, to take care of the Iranian people because they’ve made a lot of promises, and for graft and corruption because that’s what they do.”
Regarding Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism, Sherman stated, “It’s clear that they have already been providing that aid, and they will continue to provide more. The limitation on the aid there, is more what are they able to physically deliver, knowing that they’re subject to interdiction of their deliveries. I think even a few hundred million dollars, let alone, 120 billion, might well finance a lot of what Iran is doing.”
He concluded, “When they talk about 24/7 inspections, they’re talking about the declared sites…the suspected sites, it’s 24 days. Much of the mischief that they would want to do, they could not conceal in 24 days, such as a huge industrial reprocessing facility, or a — and much of it couldn’t be hidden because it would leave a radioactive trace. On the other hand, computer modeling, designed to allow them to weaponize when they do have enough fissile material, that’s something that would be very difficult to detect with or without this agreement.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.