LITTLE ROCK — Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton said Tuesday that he thinks an agreement aimed at dismantling Iran's nuclear program could instead create a "second nuclear age" that would threaten the United States and its allies.
The freshman senator from Arkansas criticized the agreement struck by the U.S., Iran, and five world powers to dismantle most of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars' worth of sanctions relief. Congress will vote next month on a resolution to disapprove of the White House-backed nuclear deal.
"This deal, whether it's breached or whether it's followed, is putting us on a path to a second nuclear age in which the risks of nuclear war are much greater," Cotton told members of the Political Animals Club, which meets regularly to hear from elected officials and other public figures.
"And the risk of a nuclear attack against the United States and our interests, whether by a nation-state or a terrorist organization that's been provided or has obtained nuclear material is much greater."
Cotton said the deal will still put Iran on the path toward nuclear weapons because the nation would end up financially stronger due to the lifting of sanctions and could still be a "nuclear capable threshold state" in 10 to 15 years, when the limits on centrifuges end. He also argued there's no guarantee Iran will honor the deal.