Following reports of a looming U.S. return to the Iran nuclear deal, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) panned the Biden administration for its “beyond insane” negotiations with the Islamic Republic, calling instead to reinstitute the “maximum pressure campaign that was working under President Trump.”
In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News on Monday, Waltz, a Florida native who represents the Sunshine State’s 6th congressional district, called out the Biden team for its attempts at renewing the emerging Iran nuclear deal, especially under current circumstances.
“The fact the Biden administration is negotiating a new deal with the Iran regime – while using Russia as an intermediary – is beyond insane,” he said.
Waltz, a colonel in the National Guard as well as a former White House and Pentagon policy adviser, also slammed the president for rewarding the Islamic theocracy’s “horrifying” conduct.
“While Iran orchestrates attacks against our troops and attempted assassinations against American citizens in our own country, Biden is on the cusp of giving them billions of dollars in return for their horrifying behavior,” he said.
Instead, Waltz, who was the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress, called to reinstitute “the maximum pressure campaign that was working under President Trump,” while demanding that no negotiations be agreed upon until the Iranian regime “releases American hostages” and “ceases its nuclear program and missile developments, and financing of terror operations.”
Waltz has been a frequent critic of the Biden administration and its Iran policies in particular.
In December, Waltz said he did not trust President Joe Biden to fulfil his stated pledge to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and suggested that President Trump, in the event he’d have continued to a second term, would have forced the Iranians to negotiate a far better deal.
The congressman’s remarks come as Republicans and even some Democrats continue to express their opposition to a Biden nuclear deal with Iran, which aims to weaken sanctions and lessen restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.
Last week, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) slammed the Biden administration’s willingness to revive the Iranian nuclear deal and grant the regime a “blank check” to fund its growing terrorist activities, calling it a “massive mistake that will destabilize the Middle East, empower Russia and China, and endanger Americans.”
On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned that “tens of millions may die because of the nuclear arsenal” the deal would provide to the Ayatollah, with scores of others assured to die due to “Iranian terrorism enabled by this deal.”
In June, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence expressed undying support for Iranian resistance while blasting the Biden team’s new concessions to the “tyrants” in Tehran, its “virtual abandonment of our ally Israel,” and the “disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan,” which have emboldened the “adversaries of freedom” that now sense “weakness” in the American administration.
He also accused the Biden administration of threatening to “unravel all the progress” the Trump administration made in marginalizing the Iranian regime.
Though Tehran claims its nuclear program is for energy purposes, world leaders, including the six nations that joined the 2015 deal to limit Iran’s nuclear weapons capacity, say enriching uranium may lead to Iran’s ability to quickly create a nuclear weapon.
Nevertheless, current nuclear talks may see the United States and other world powers provide Iran with economic sanctions relief in exchange for temporary restrictions on its nuclear program.
The Islamic regime is reportedly very close to developing its first nuclear missile and recently unveiled that it had a new long-range missile with a target range of approximately 900 miles.
According to a former State Department official, President Biden’s impending agreement to restore the Iran nuclear deal offers the regime access to $90 billion in foreign currency reserves and sanctions relief to some of the world’s worst terrorists.
In addition to being granted hundreds of billions of dollars, it may likely be used for terror and aggression. The deal also will not prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Follow Joshua Klein on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.