A.G. Gancarski
In an oped that appeared in TIME on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton co-wrote an op-ed asserting that the Iran deal would provide Iran, described as the “world’s biggest sponsor of state-sponsored terrorism” with $150 billion in unfrozen assets. This jibes with rhetoric from both Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans on the Iran Deal and the president’s approach to foreign policy in general.
Describing the proposed Iran accord as “a bad deal that will significantly degrade our national security,” the editorial asserts that “the Obama Administration has consistently maintained that no deal with Iran is better than a bad deal, but we now know this claim — as with many claims made throughout these negotiations — was merely political spin.”
For DeSantis and Cotton, the argument is personal: “During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iranian-supplied roadside bombs accounted for as many as 1,500 American combat deaths. These deaths were orchestrated by the Quds Force from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and its leader, Qasem Soleimani. For those that served there this memory is still raw. When we remember those fallen comrades as well as those who lost their lives in Iran-sponsored terrorist attacks it is difficult to believe we would enter into a deal with a regime that supports such behavior,” they wrote.
Asserting that the Iranian regime would devote unfrozen assets to terrorism, and empower Ayatollah Khameini, the piece makes assertions familiar to those who have studied the post-1979 rhetoric from Washington hardliners.
“The recent rantings of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei are sufficient to dispel any notion that this deal with Iran will cause the ayatollahs to disavow terrorism and join the civilized world. When followers of the ayatollahs chant ‘death to America’ in the streets, they mean it. They will stop at nothing to end our way of life,” the Ponte Vedra congressman and the Oklahoma senator wrote.
The Republicans also take issue with the deal facilitating Iran developing its nuclear capacity.
“The deal goes beyond the mere acceptance of an Iranian nuclear program; it requires the international community to facilitate Iran’s program, even to assist Iran in protecting its program from sabotage. Just a few years ago, a deal that permitted Iran to develop advanced centrifuges would have been unthinkable. The deal makes the international community, including the United States, active sponsors of Iran’s development of a nuclear weapons capability fortified against outside efforts to sabotage it,” Cotton and DeSantis wrote.
Other qualms they have with the accord include Iran having up to 24 days to prepare for inspections of “undeclared nuclear sites,” as well as the deal lifting sanctions on Iran’s feared Revolutionary Guard.
