Sen. Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat, mocked President Trump’s prediction that a peace deal with Iran will be reached on Sunday, which is also the president’s 80th birthday.
“For 100 days we’ve been hearing constantly, ’there’s going to be a deal, there’s going to be a deal,’” Mr. Reed said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I think the precipitating issue today, the president wants to give himself a birthday present and we have paid for it with hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Mr. Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, argued that Mr. Trump’s negotiations with Iran would not produce a deal that differs from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached by President Obama in 2015, a point Mr. Obama himself made Sunday.
Mr. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in 2018, arguing that it did little to deter Tehran from developing nuclear weapons in the long run.
“We have spent billions of dollars, we’ve lost 14 personnel killed in action, hundreds wounded and we disrupted the world economy and we’re getting basically less than we had under the JCPOA, which President Trump walked away from,” Mr. Reed said.
The senator did hail a reported key component of the agreement, which would ensure the Strait of Hormuz is immediately reopened.
“I think the one point you could emphasize is that the Strait will open. I think that’s the purpose because that is something that will help alleviate this economic crisis,” Mr. Reed said.
“But the other part of this is … Reuters is reporting that part of the deal is $24 billion in sanctions released to the Iranians. So this is not a, ‘We win and you do what we say.’ This is, ‘How can we open up the straits? What will it cost us?’” he continued.
Iran would reportedly receive $25 billion of its frozen assets returned through direct cash transfers, extending a ceasefire for 60 days to hold nuclear negotiations and develop reconstruction plans.
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