Senator Ernst. (file photo from Ernst’s office)
Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, a Republican from Red Oak, is joining with Representative Mike Waltz of Florida in what she says is an effort to enforce U.S. sanctions against Iran.
Ernst says the Biden administration continues to pursue an agreement with Iran even though the country has continued targeting of American military members in the Middle East, and they are verified assassination plots against American citizens in the U.S.
“The Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration in 2015 promised to stop Iran’s nuclear program and achieve peace in the region. Neither happened. In fact, Iran’s terror operations increased and their nuclear program was not comprehensively dismantled,” Ernst says.
Ernst says the previous administration proved that a tough stance is needed with Iran. “President Trump’s aggressive stance toward Iranian terror deterred our adversaries and secured our homeland. The Biden administration’s foolish and fanciful pursuit of peace, through appeasement must be stopped,” she says.
Ernst says her bill is designed to kept Iran in check. “The bill would enforce U.S. sanctions on Iran until the Secretary of State certifies to Congress that Iran has not supported any attempt or activity to kill a U.S. citizen, former or current U.S. official or an Iranian living within the United States,” Ernst says.
She says it would codify the Trump administration’s maximum pressure of sanctions and prohibit lifting sanctions on Iran — including those that President Biden intends to lift to reenter the Iran nuclear agreement — until the State Department can certify no assassination attempts or bounties are placed on current or former U-S officials for five years.