US Democratic lawmakers censure President Donald Trump and Republicans for Washington’s withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal, calling on the American people to “vote them all out” over the measure.
The leading Democrat in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday (May 8) said the Trump administration was wrong to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal when the chief "worry" over Iran was its missile program and influence in places like Syria, and not necessarily its current nuclear ambitions.
Senator Chuck Schumer also said the U.S. exit from the nuclear accord announced by President Donald Trump earlier in the day would divide European and Asian allies, and make it harder to forge an agreement ultimately with North Korea over its own nuclear program.
“Trump and his Republicans will go down in history as the party that destroyed our country's credibility, ruined our global reputation, and made the world a more dangerous place — all to sabotage President Obama's legacy. Vote them all out. Every single one,” the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) tweeted immediately after Trump announced the US withdrawal from the deal.
While, California Democratic lawmaker Adam Schiff described Trump’s decision as a mistake of "historic proportions," Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin warned that the president's decision will pose more threats to the entire the Middle East.
“Decision to withdraw from Iran deal will undermine our national security, increase prospect of a nuclear Iran or a conflict with them, and cause the world to conclude America doesn't keep its word. Scuttling the deal without a Plan B is not a strategy, but a dangerous abdication,” Schiff said.
Chris Murphy, a Democrat member of the Senate foreign relations committee, described Trump’s announcement as “terrible news,” saying “Pulling out of the Iran deal is like a soccer player deliberately kicking the ball into their own team’s goal.”
“There is nothing but downside for the US, especially since Trump has zero plan for what comes next,” he added.
Senior Democratic legislator on the Senate Intelligence Committee Mark Warner issued a statement, warning against creating rift between the US and its allies.
"Simply withdrawing the United States from the JCPOA will not benefit the American people and US national security: it will only succeed in driving a wedge between us and our allies, whose help we need to enforce any future sanctions regime against Iran," he said. “Withdrawing from this agreement makes the United States, and the world, less secure," Warner pointed out.
Nancy Pelosi
Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi described Tuesday a "sad day for America's global leadership" and warned that “Trump Administration's dangerous and impulsive action is no substitute for real global leadership."
Even some lawmakers on the Republican front also criticized Trump for abandoning the deal.
Ohio Republican representative Mike Turner, who is also a senior member of House Armed Services Committee, lashed out at Trump for abandoning the JCPOA without any proof.
"Without proof that Iran is in violation of the agreement, it is a mistake to fully withdraw from this deal," Turner said in a statement.
Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins also said she preferred that the US would "remedy” the “flaws” in the nuclear deal with its allies rather than walking away from the accord.
Independent US Senator Bernie Sanders expressed concern that Trump’s “reckless decision” would lead to another open-end war for the US.
“After 17 years of war in Afghanistan and 15 years of war in Iraq, the American people do not want to be engaged in never-ending wars in the Middle East. I am deeply concerned, that is exactly where President Trump is taking us with regard to Iran,” Sanders said . “President Trump’s speech today was the latest in a series of reckless decisions that move our country closer to conflict.”
“Trump’s decision isolates the United States from our most important European allies who all continue to support the agreement and have consistently said that it is in their own national security interests to see it upheld,” Sanders added.
The Vermont senator warned that abandoning the JCPOA would “seriously harm” Washington’s future non-proliferation negotiations, including with North Korea, adding “Why would any country in the world sign such an agreement with the United States, and make the touch concessions, if they thought that a reckless president might simply discard that agreement a few years later?”
Former US President Barack Obama has said President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the US from the historic Iran nuclear deal signed during Mr Obama's time in office is "so misguided" and a "serious mistake".
