Bob Corker on Iran Deal: ‘Disappointing Administration Was Unable to Reach an Agreement with Our Allies’

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) released a statement Tuesday afternoon, shortly after President Trump announced that he is ending United States participation in the Iran nuclear deal.

“It is disappointing that the administration was unable to reach an agreement with our allies, specifically to remedy the ‘sunset’ provisions that allow Tehran to significantly ramp up its nuclear enrichment activity less than a decade from now,” the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was a key advocate of the Iran nuclear deal proposed and implemented by President Obama, said.

“However, based on conversations I have had in recent days, it is my sense that the administration will move quickly to work toward a better deal. Moving forward, I will continue to work with the administration, my colleagues in Congress, and our foreign partners on a policy that actually meets our shared goal: preventing Iran from being able to produce a nuclear weapon,” Corker added.

Corker also noted that “The president made clear in January that unless an agreement was reached with our European partners to address the serious flaws in the Iran nuclear deal, he would end U.S. participation in the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action].”

Corker has been a frequent critic of President Trump, a position that has seen the junior senator from Tennessee’s popularity plummet in his home state, especially among Republicans.

He announced that he would not be running for re-election for a third term in September, a decision which he confirmed earlier this year.

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) is unopposed in the Republican primary and is expected to face former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who is unopposed in the Democratic primary, in the fall general election for the U.S. Senate seat Corker currently holds.