SPRINGDALE -- A wealthier Iran would be a serious threat to the United States even without nuclear weapons, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told the Springdale Rotary Club on Monday.
Cotton repeated his argument the proposed multinational deal to lift sanctions would fail to deter Iran from making a nuclear weapon. He stressed to the audience there is no dispute the agreement will enrich a long-standing enemy of the United States.
"If this deal goes through, it will give Iran tens of billions of dollars immediately," Cotton said at a noon meeting in the Springdale Holiday Inn and Convention Center. The deal would release frozen Iranian assets in the United States that were impounded decades ago.
"That money isn't going to just build swimming pools and YMCAs," Cotton said. "Some of it will go to pay for more attacks they're already launching on the United States and their allies. One dollar is too much to give Iran when there's no doubt the money will be used to kill Americans and kill Jews."
President Obama's administration has announced its intention to abide by the agreement's terms. A bill in Congress to reject the deal is expected to pass. The president needs the support of at least one-third of either chamber of Congress to prevent an override of the expected veto. The administration acknowledges it can only get that kind of support in the Senate.
Vince Insalaco, chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party, wondered aloud when reached for comment later Monday what alternative Cotton was offering.
"The implied answer, since the sanctions aren't stopping the Iranians now, is military action. I don't think the people of Arkansas are ready to go to war with Iran," Insalaco said.
No Republicans have announced support for the Iran agreement but 27 Democrats have. The president needs the support of at least seven of the remaining 17 uncommitted Democratic senators to safeguard against a veto.
Cotton is an outspoken opponent of the deal. Iran remains a constant, active U.S. enemy and has been since the the Nov. 4, 1979, attack in the U.S. embassy there, Cotton said. Iran also pays for proxies to attack other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Israel, he said. It is able to do that already while still constrained to an economy roughly the size and value of the state of Maryland's, he said.
NW News on 08/25/2015