(Video Above: Byrne explains the problem with the U.S. negotiations with Iran)
WASHINGTON — Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL1) expressed his frustration with the Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran as yet another deadline has passed.
“It has gotten to the point now where these deadlines don’t really mean anything because we have had deadline after deadline after deadline, and we just blow right through them,” Rep. Byrne says in the video statement above. “This makes a mockery of this whole process that is supposedly a ‘negotiation.’”
The negotiations, whose first deadline passed last November, were supposed to be completed by midnight of June 30th. When that deadline slipped by, the State Department set another deadline of July 7th, which was violated as well.
The Obama administration is now reportedly suggesting forgoing deadlines altogether, insisting instead on open-ended talks. According to the Wall Street Journal, Iranian negotiators have recently increased their demands that a United Nations embargo on Tehran’s ballistic-missile program and arms trade be removed as part of a broader nuclear accord.
Revealingly, Iranian representatives to the discussions say they are not bound by any White House-imposed deadlines.
Congressman Byrne believes the United States is coming out on the losing end of these diplomatic talks, and should back out opting instead for continued sanctions.
“This is not a negotiation,” Byrne insisted. “America is being played by the Iranians, and it is time for us to say that this is a bad deal, get away from it, and use our economic sanctions to keep the Iranians from getting a nuclear weapon. Time is not on our side in this matter. It is time for us to act decisively to keep the Iranians from getting a nuclear weapon.”
Last week, fellow Alabama Republican Congresswoman Martha Roby (R-AL2) echoed Rep. Byrne’s sentiments, saying, “[t]he fact that we keep extending the deadline tells you all you need to know about the priorities at play for the Administration. It seems President Obama and Secretary Kerry want a deal, any deal, so badly that they are not willing to walk away from a bad one as deadlines keep passing. Now might be time to withdraw from these negotiations altogether.”
“We cannot trust Iran – a country that encourages its people to chant ‘death to America’ – to do the right thing,” Roby continued. “We ought to be able to inspect Iran’s facilities anytime, anywhere – including nuclear facilities.”
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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