Dem warns: Ending Iran deal could lead to nuclear-capable Iran

by The Hill staff - 03/03/17 10:45 AM ET

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) is warning President Trump of the consequences should he fulfill his campaign promise to dismantle the Iran nuclear deal.

“What I hope has happened is that whoever is having conversations with the president said, ‘If you follow through with your campaign promise to walk away from deal, within one year or maybe two we will be facing the choice of nuclear-capable Iran or a war,” Foster told The Hill.

{mosads}Foster, the only member of Congress with a doctorate in physics, penned a letter to Trump arguing the U.S., Israel and the world are safer today because of the nuclear deal.

He also outlined the steps Iran has taken to comply with the deal, including removing two-thirds of its installed centrifuges, reducing its stockpile of enriched uranium by 98 percent and filling its heavy water research reactor with cement, making it inoperable.

John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and a critic of the nuclear deal, isn’t convinced of Iran’s commitment, saying Trump’s best course of action is to step away entirely.

“Every day that goes by weakens our position. I think Iran never had the slightest intention to comply with its main provisions,” Bolton told The Hill.

“I think that best, the most open, clearest political statement for the United States would be to announce we’re aggregating the deal, to step away from it.”

Foster’s letter to Trump was signed by 60 Democrats but no Republicans.

Watch the video above to hear Foster and Bolton discuss the Iran deal in their own words.

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