fbpx

Graham urges Trump to keep promise to renegotiate Iran deal

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Wednesday urged President-elect to follow through with his campaign promise to renegotiate the Iranian nuclear deal in response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warning not to push for changes in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
[additional-authors]
December 7, 2016

This story originally appeared at “>recent meeting in New York, Trump told Netanyahu he thought the nuclear deal was bad for Israel and for the U.S. “I was with Bibi Netanyahu the other day, and we talked about it,” Trump said during a town hall meeting ahead of the second televised presidential debate when asked to point to the biggest foreign policy failure of the last 15 years. “Not to reveal what he said, but I can tell you what I said, ‘This is horrible for Israel. It is horrible for our country.’”

On the campaign trail, Trump promised to rip up or renegotiate the international accord. “My number one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran,” Trump told AIPAC in March. Last year, Trump suggested he would strictly enforce the nuclear agreement and work to improve it. “We have a horrible contract, but we do have a contract,” “>promised: “We will solve that problem if I get the chance, believe me. If I get the chance, you will be very happy. You will be very happy.”

Rouhani also warned Iran “will show a reaction” if President Barack Obama signs the Iran Sanctions Act 10-year extension into law.

The law, first passed by Congress in 1996 and renewed several times since then, allows the U.S. to sanction companies for doing business with Iran. Last week, the Senate voted 99-0 to pass the 10-year extension, which will ensure there are sanctions to “snap back” should Iran violate its international commitments. The White House said the President expects to sign the bill since a clean extension would not be a violation of the JCPOA Iran deal.

Graham said he intends to introduce legislation that would impose sanctions on the Iranian regime for being the largest state sponsor of terrorism, and testing missiles in violation of United Nations resolutions in the next Congress. “It’s past time the Iranian regime pay a price for their provocative behavior,” he said. “Passage of this legislation through Congress will give President-elect Trump additional leverage to get a better deal and once and for all truly change Iranian behavior.”

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

The Beat Goes On

While so much of the world seems obsessed with and consumed by its hatred of Israel and Jews, Israelis continue to build, create, work, celebrate, argue, raise families, and plan for the future.

Viral AI Video Targets Jewish Comedian

“The biggest concern is that people now have a pathway to shut down Jewish voices through complete falsities that people will believe. … For the future of Jewish entertainment, it’s very scary.”

Yiddish Historians: Writing in Their Own Language for Their Own People

Mark Smith has compiled an important anthology of Jewish history using 49 works by Yiddish historians to recreate or at least open the door to a world of Jewish thought that was once almost mainstream, but which no longer exists, except in the minds of too few specialists.

The Everlasting Melody

Most Jews who have sung “Eitz Chaim” over the past half-century probably never knew Portnoy. They did not know when he wrote the melody or how young he was when he composed it. They simply knew the song.

Who’s Really the Victim?

Those who would revel in Israel’s demise are claiming victimhood on every front and denying attacks on us in the same breath.

Biblical Deterrence

After Oct. 7, the sentiment in Israel toward the Iranian leadership was unequivocal: You went medieval — so we will go biblical.

How Sukkot Makes Us Whole

This year, I bless us that we open our eyes to truly see the beauty and the holiness of the world, and of the person before us at each and every moment, and to see the godliness of their aspirations and their fears.

The New Ushpizot

Ushpizin invite us to “welcome in our ancestral constellation and dwell amongst them.” This year, it’s Ushpizot, for the women. It’s the year of the Feminist Visitation.

Macklemore, Or Less

In between his songs, he proclaimed, “Free Palestine,” which is fine, asserted that opposing Israeli military actions is not antisemitic, which is accurate, and accused Israel of apartheid and genocide, which is offensive, untrue and hateful.

The Rokeach’s Remarkable Sukkah

To Rabbi Eleazar ben Judah of Worms (1176-1238), the medieval German pietist known as the Rokeach, the sukkah symbolized Jewish military might.

The Sukkah and the Power of Endurance

They can destroy our Temples, demonize us in social media, shower us with hate, but they can’t destroy a spirit that never stops building. That enduring spirit is the power of the sukkah.

NY Mag’s Habibi City

A satirical response to Zaina Arafat’s erasure of Jews in her New York Magazine article “Habibi City,” written as Zaina Arafat.

The ‘Fauda’ Enigma

In many of the nations that believe Israel has no right to exist and routinely root for terrorists to slaughter Jews, a TV show that depicts Israeli covert operatives outsmarting and dispatching Arabs has an inexplicably loyal global audience.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.