Today, Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) released the following statement regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action:

“I opposed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015, because while it may have placed temporary limits on certain aspects of Iran’s nuclear program, it did not permanently preclude Tehran’s pathway to the bomb. It also failed to address Iran’s aggressive development of long-range ballistic missiles to deliver these nuclear weapons. These facts remain true today.

“Since the deal’s implementation, Iran has reaped the benefits of sanctions relief, twice skirted the agreement’s limitations on heavy water, and continued to flaunt its refusal to allow international inspectors access to military sites under the JCPOA’s weak inspections regime. Iran has violated international law by testing long-range ballistic missiles and transferring weapons to terrorist groups, including Hezbollah and Hamas, and Iranian proxies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen. But even if Iran were to fulfill all its obligations, the sunsets in the JCPOA would still permit Iran to resume its nuclear program within years.

“Beginning in October, the President declined to certify that the sanctions relief under the JCPOA is ‘appropriate and proportionate’ to the measures Iran has taken to terminate its illicit nuclear program. With the decision to withdraw from the JCPOA, we must now move beyond partisan gridlock and implement a comprehensive plan to better restrain Iran’s malevolence and nuclear ambitions.

“There should be nothing partisan about our national security, nor our relationship with our ally Israel. Iran must know that its destructive behavior throughout the Middle East will not be tolerated, and we must now work to ensure that the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism is never able to threaten the United States or our allies armed with a nuclear weapon. The risks of inaction are too high.”