World

Pence: New Iran Legislation Will Replace 10-Year Moratorium on Nuclear Deal

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The Trump administration and members of Congress are working on a new set of nuclear- and missile-related Iran sanctions that would replace the 2015 nuclear agreement that permits the Islamic republic to resume nuclear weapons development after ten years, Vice President Mike Pence said in an interview.
Sputnik

"The reality is the Iran nuclear deal was so ill founded because… by only being a ten-year agreement, it virtually guaranteed that they would develop a nuclear weapon after that ten year period of time," Pence told the Voice of America on Wednesday.

Pence said that US President Donald Trump will again refuse to certify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear agreement later this month, as the president did in October.

Trump Trashes Iran Nuclear Deal: On a Path Toward a New Middle East War
The 2015 nuclear deal with the United States, Russia, Germany, France, China and the United Kingdom required that Iran roll back parts of its nuclear program for ten years in exchange for sanctions relief.

Pence said the Trump administration and Congress are developing legislation that would immediately re-impose all nuclear- and missile-related sanctions if Iran resumes attempts to develop an atomic bomb and missiles to deliver a bomb.

When asked how tougher US sanctions would affect a wave of anti-government protests in Iran, Pence said present penalties against the Islamist regime were emboldening the people with courage to step forward.

Discuss