Barrasso Rejects Administration's Arguments on Iran Nuclear Deal (Newsmax)
By Sandy Fitzgerald | Sunday, 25 September 2022 12:50 PM EDT
There are no arguments that are convincing enough for the United States to keep trying to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, Sen. John Barrasso, who chairs the Senate Republican Conference, said Sunday.
"No deal with Iran is a good deal," the Wyoming Republican said in an interview with ABC News's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." "Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. They continue to claim 'death to America.' We cannot allow them to have a nuclear weapon."
But, he said that he's "always felt this administration was too eager for a nuclear deal or any deal with Iran. I think we should not go forward with one. If they do, it needs to come to the Senate for ratification."
The Biden administration, Barrasso added, "wants to send tens of billions of dollars to Iran for a deal that I think is going to be a bad deal for America."
His comments came in response to an interview on the Sunday program with national security adviser Jake Sullivan, who rejected the idea of backing away from talks on the nuclear deal because of the number of protests that are growing over the rights of women and the citizens of Iran.
"The fact that we are in nuclear talks is in no way slowing us down from speaking out and acting on behalf of the people of Iran," Sullivan said. "We’re not going to slow down one inch in our defense and advocacy for the rights of the women and citizens of Iran."
Meanwhile, Barrasso discussed the ongoing call for resources for Ukraine to keep fighting against Russia and disagreed with the contention of Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who warned this week that if Republicans win control of Congress, they'll hold up additional aid.
"There continues to be bipartisan support in the House and the Senate for weapons to Ukraine," said Barrasso. "I thought President [Joe] Biden was right at the United Nations when he told other world leaders they had a responsibility to do more in terms of weapons to Ukraine and condemning Russia because Putin will not stop until he is stopped."
There has also been bipartisan criticism of the administration for being too slow with weapons to Ukraine, said Barrasso, adding that Putin has been using energy as a weapon.
"We ought to be producing more American energy to help our European allies, also to help get prices down at home," he said. "
However, Barrasso said he's not sure if Putin's power is stable.
"He's in a deep hole right now and he’s dug this hole," he said. "I thought his statement to the country there was desperate. It didn't show confidence or strength, and desperate people do desperate things. That's why I think we've seen this nuclear threat."
Meanwhile, the Foreign Relations Committee, of which Barrasso is a member, will hold a hearing Wednesday to discuss options on sanctions, and will have a secure briefing Thursday to examine what is happening on the ground in Ukraine, he said.
"China is watching closely, and what we do will have an impact on what China decides to do with regard to Taiwan," the senator said.
Finally, Barrasso discussed the investigation into former President Donald Trump's handling of classified documents and said that he doesn't "know anything about the rules for when a president declassifies documents and information.
He also said he wants the Department of Justice to speak to senators, in a classified setting, about the raid, and rejected Trump's comments that a president can declassify documents by "thinking" about them, telling Stephanopoulos that "I don't think a president can declassify documents by saying so, by thinking about it."