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SD Congressional Delegation Supportive Of President's Withdrawal From Iran Deal

South Dakota’s congressional delegation are supporting President Donald Trump’s decision to walk away from the Iran Nuclear Deal.

The president announced Tuesday the US would reinstate sanctions that were lifted under the deal.

Representative Kristi Noem is praising the president’s decision. She says the Obama-era deal was poorly negotiated and failed to permanently stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities. She says the country should have walked away from the agreement from the start. She says she’s proud the president was “bold enough to do so.”

Senator Mike Rounds says he agrees that the Iran Nuclear Deal was a bad deal. However, he says he wishes the president would have worked within the deal to make it stronger, rather than walk away.

“I think the president was trying honor his campaign promises, in which he thought it was a bad deal,” Rounds says. “Personally, I agree with the president that it was a bad deal, but I most certainly would have like to see us try to renegotiate this thing and to actually make it a better deal, rather than totally walking away, but once again the president has his way of negotiating. We will find out whether or not he's successful in getting something done.”

Rounds says a deal like one with Iran must stand the test of time, and must meet the 2/3 majority requirement to ratify treaties in the Senate.

Senator John Thune says he never supported the Iran nuclear deal, and he says the sanctions relief further funds Iran’s destabilizing activities. He says the administration must now negotiate a stronger deal to insure Iran never possesses nuclear weapons.

Senator John Thune: “I have never supported the Iran nuclear deal. It has emboldened Iran, and the sanctions relief it provided continues to fund Iran’s other destabilizing activities, including state-sponsored terrorism. The most important goal is that Iran never possesses nuclear weapons, an outcome that the Iran deal only delayed. The administration must now negotiate a stronger deal to ensure that goal is fulfilled, and I am hopeful that our allies, who have also recognized the deal’s underlying failings, will join this effort. Today’s action should also send a strong signal to North Korea that its nuclear weapons program is not acceptable. Exiting the Iran deal affirms our commitment to denuclearization and keeping these weapons from those who would threaten the United States and our allies.”

Representative Kristi Noem: “The Obama-era Iran deal was poorly negotiated, failed to permanently stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities, and undermined American security and that of our ally Israel,” said Noem. “We should have walked away from this agreement at the very beginning, and I’m proud that President Trump has been bold enough to do so.”

Noem joined the House in voting down President Obama’s nuclear deal in September 2015, but the legislation was never signed into law.