Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy today made an impassioned case on the US Senate floor for the urgent restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal with Iran following President Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear agreement in 2018.
“The world became a much less safe place when President Trump tore up that agreement against the advice of his Secretary of State [and] his Secretary of Defense,” Senator Murphy said, noting that Iran was in compliance with the strict terms of the agreement, which had significantly reduced their stockpile of nuclear material.
The “maximum pressure” approach adopted by President Trump strengthened Iranian hardliners, allowed the country to increase uranium enrichment to unprecedented levels and escalated tensions to the point of near full-blown war.
“We have an opportunity right now to reconstruct that agreement…so that Iran once again is as far as possible from being able to obtain a nuclear weapon.” Murphy said. “That would make the region safer, that would make the United States safer.”
In April, Senator Murphy and Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote a letter with 25 fellow senators to President Biden calling for an urgent return to the deal in order to peacefully and effectively prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
“Time is of the essence,” Murphy said. “This is the moment to do it. And I would urge the administration to take all of the smart steps necessary in order to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, making the region and the world a safer place.”
