Dylan Williams, Vice President of Government Affairs at J Street, issued the following statement in response to Defense Secretary James Mattis’ confirmation to Congress that it is in the national security interests of the US to remain in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA):
“By October 15th, President Trump must tell Congress whether Iran is meeting its obligations under the JCPOA nuclear agreement, and whether remaining in the agreement continues to be in the security interests of the United States. Over the last two weeks, his top security advisors have made clear that the answer to both questions is ‘Yes.’
In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee last week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dunford was unequivocal: ‘Iran is adhering to its JCPOA obligations.’ In a public discussion a week earlier, the commander of US Strategic Command, General Hyten, stated that ‘The facts are that Iran is operating under the agreements that we signed up for under the JCPOA.’ Today, Secretary of Defense Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee that it was in the national security interest of the United States to remain in the JCPOA.
The facts and the recommendation of our national security leadership are crystal clear. President Trump has zero legitimate grounds for decertifying the JCPOA. If he chooses to do so anyway, he will be acting purely based on divisive politics and dangerous ideology – and endangering the security of the US and our allies.”