President Trump announced Tuesday that he has decided to exit a 2015 multinational agreement in which Iran agreed to limit its production of nuclear weapons material.
He said the U.S. will reimpose economic sanctions that were lifted as part of the U.S. commitments made in the deal.
The U.S. has been repeatedly waiving sanctions that curtail Iran's oil sales, but those sanctions waivers faced a Saturday deadline, prompting Trump's move Tuesday.
Here is reaction from central Illinois' congressional delegation:
Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville
"There was bipartisan opposition to this deal because of the many concessions made by the Obama administration. The U.S. gave Iran permanent sanctions relief in exchange for temporary restrictions. The Obama administration went from ‘anytime, anywhere’ inspections to 'self-inspections.' These concessions left us with an unverifiable deal, hundreds of billions of dollars going to Iran, and a clear pathway for the world’s leading state-sponsor of terror to continue their nuclear program. We’ve seen this movie before with North Korea and I hope we will not make the same mistake."
Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Dunlap
“The Obama-era Iran deal has been flawed from its inception and today’s announcement from the President further emphasizes his priority to put America’s national security first. The decision to impose sanctions and withdraw from the current agreement is a good first step towards improving the way we hold Iran accountable today and long into the future. Now, the Administration must work alongside Congress and with our European allies to find a better path forward to correct Iran’s destabilizing behavior and curb its nuclear infrastructure.”
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
“President Trump’s decision yesterday to basically exit the United States from this Iran Nuclear Agreement, I believe, is not only wrong, but reckless. By walking away from this agreement, we are forsaking the opportunity to continue to monitor in detail the work done by Iran to make certain that they live up to its terms,” Durbin said. “Equally important – and you’ve acknowledged it – our allies are important to us around the world. Our allies joined us in sticking their necks out – France, Germany, U.K., the European Union, China, and Russia joining us – to make certain that this agreement had a kind of universal support beyond Iran. And now the United States is walking away from it. That, I cannot believe, will inspire any confidence among our allies about our word and our reliability in the future when it comes to these agreements.”
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
“While the Iran nuclear agreement was far from perfect, it has been successful in pushing back Iran’s timeline for nuclear weapons development, which was a key goal of the agreement. Donald Trump’s reckless announcement today not only threatens to destroy years of important non-proliferation efforts, it also isolates us from our allies and undermines our country’s ability to use diplomacy to negotiate future agreements, leaving us with less leverage on the world stage. That’s alarming, especially at this critical time as we attempt to reach a diplomatic solution to the north Korean crisis. Our nation’s top defense and military officials agree that Iran is in compliance with the agreement and recommended we remain in this deal. It’s unfortunate that on this critical matter of national security, the President has decided to cast aside their advice.”
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