Allentown, Pa. – U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) today called on President Obama to hold Iran accountable for its increasingly hostile actions and take immediate steps to halt Iran’s testing and development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles
- Last month marked the one-year anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran
- Since then, relations with Iran have not improved, and Iran’s inflammatory actions continue to isolate them from the world community
- In the past 12 months alone, Iran has been increasingly hostile to the United States and the entire Middle East
- Your own State Department again called Iran the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism, and the regime in Tehran is now using previously sanctioned funds to further their terror agenda
- JCPOA will reduce the time needed to build a nuclear weapon to only six months, as a result of upgrading to highly advanced centrifuges
- Most egregiously, Iran has launched at least eight ballistic missiles, which your own administration has determined is in direct violation and “defiance” of United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
It is imperative to our national security that the regime in Iran never obtains nuclear weapons, and ends the research and testing of ballistic missiles that would accurately employ those nuclear weapons. – Pat Toomey
- These missiles are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and could target U.S. forces and allies throughout the region
- Your administration has further undermined any confidence that you intend to hold Iran accountable by your repeated opposition to extending the Iran Sanctions Act
- This aggressive behavior will not stop until action is taken
- Iran cannot be trusted. More must be done