In the wake of the Obama administration’s announcement that the deadline for evidence of progress in the ongoing negotiations with Iran regarding their nuclear systems has been extended yet again, U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) has been suggesting that it may be time to leave the table altogether.
On Tuesday, the State Department said that the Iran negotiations would be extended to July 7, an additional week beyond the original June 30 deadline. Roby, who recently spent time in the Middle East to discuss the Iran issue with several of the region’s U.S. allies, said there is reason for concern.
“The fact that we keep extending the deadline tells you all you need to know about the priorities at play for the administration,” Roby said. “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’ve had extension after extension and concession after concession. I’ve very concerned that our negotiators are unwilling to just say ‘no’ when the terms don’t line up with Americans interests.”
Of particular concern to Roby is ensuring that negotiators include provisions that uphold America’s interests, especially in terms of reacquiring inspections of Iran’s facilities and whether to lift economic sanctions.
“We cannot trust Iran — a country that encourages its people to chant ‘death to America’ — to do the right thing,” Roby said. “We ought to be able to inspect Iran’s facilities anytime, anywhere — including nuclear facilities.
Our sanctions that we’ve had in place are working and there’s no reason those should be made any weaker [as a precondition to a deal]. We cannot allow President Obama and Secretary Kerry’s desire for a ‘legacy’ to trump what’s in the best interests of the U.S. and our allies. After all, what type of legacy is a bad deal undermining the security of Israel and the free world?”