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Meadows rips Obama's Iran agreement

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows

By Bill Moss, Published: April 2, 2015

U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows slammed the proposed U.S. agreement with Iran over nuclear weapons, saying President Obama was relying on "blind faith and trust" to hand Iran a "huge victory."

Obama announced a framework agreement with Iran and the P5+1 nations on Thursday. Here is Meadows' statement in response:

"The framework agreement released today relies on blind faith and trust in a rogue nation to stay true to its word. Time and time again, Iran has failed to comply with United Nations' inspections and has continued its nuclear pursuit despite sanctions. Iran has a long and well-documented history of defying demands from the international community and covertly continuing its efforts to develop nuclear weapons. The regime in Tehran has never given the United States a reason to trust its word and has continued to be a state-sponsor of terrorism.

"It's troubling to see the President and Secretary Kerry taking a victory lap before a final deal is actually reached. Considering it took 18 months to reach a framework with this little specificity, the chance of agreeing to meaningful benchmarks by June is nearly impossible. Today's framework is far too vague for the U.S. to be immediately lifting sanctions. Without question, Tehran will consider today's agreement, which allows it to keep its underground facilities intact, a huge victory.

"The Obama Administration must include Congress in the negotiation process, since only Congress has the authority to permanently lift sanctions against Iran. I was proud to join 366 of my colleagues in the House to send a letter to President Obama reminding him of the role that Congress must play in any nuclear agreement with Iran."