Reaction from Illinois Congressional Delegation to President Trump's decision to pull out of the Iran Nuclear Deal falls mainly along party lines.
Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) says it's the wrong decision, and the U.S. should stick to its agreements.
"The facts and the evidence are clear: they were living up to the terms of this nuclear agreement, so that they would not develop a nuclear weapon and threaten Israel and that region of the world."
Meanwhile Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) says the original deal was fundamentally flawed. He says new evidence points to Iran's leaders maintaining a desire to develop a nuclear bomb.
"It trades temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program for permanent sanctions relief in the hope that the biggest financiers of terror in the world would somehow change their ways. The recent revelation of Iran’s secret nuclear weapons archive clearly proves that the regime had a comprehensive program to design, test and build a nuclear weapon."
Congressman John Shimkus (R-Collinsville) says the Iran deal was "built on lies," and that President Trump was right to hold Tehran accountable.
"The Iran deal was built on lies and sold to the American people and Congress through a disinformation campaign by the previous administration. President Donald J. Trump is right to reimpose sanctions and hold the regime in Tehran accountable."
Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) calls Trump's decision reckless, and says the deal - while not perfect - was successful in delaying Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions.
"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."
U.S. allies in Europe are lamenting President Donald Trump's move to abandon the multinational nuclear deal with Iran.
Facing renewed sanctions from the U.S., Iran's leader ominously warned Tuesday that his country might "start enriching uranium more than before."
Officials of Germany, France and Britain tried but failed to persuade Trump to keep the U.S. in the deal. China and Russia are also parties to the agreement.
