Foster Statement on United States Withdrawal from Iran Nuclear Deal

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Foster released the following statement on President Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran Nuclear Deal:

"I strongly condemn President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Iran Nuclear Deal. President Trump's announcement shows his diplomatic incompetence and his technical ignorance of the scientific safeguards needed to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. This decision will make the United States and the world less safe, and it will also undermine the credibility of the United States as a stable and reliable negotiating partner. It will set a dangerous precedent for future deals and will damage our ability to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons through future international agreements.

As the only PhD physicist in Congress, I supported the Iran Deal after a review of its technical enforceability and its ability to functionally dismantle Iran's nuclear weapons program. It has succeeded in every aspect of what was agreed to and has made the world safer thanks to the broad international coalition that made this deal a reality.

Contrary to President Trump's claims, the Iran Nuclear Deal has been a success. This deal gave us the ability to monitor Iran's nuclear capability, so Iran no longer has the capability to produce a nuclear weapon without our knowledge. Iran has disconnected, removed, and placed in IAEA-monitored storage, two-thirds of its installed centrifuges, reduced their stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98 percent, removed all fissile material, centrifuges, and enrichment infrastructure from the underground facility at Fordow. The calandria - the core of Iran's heavy water nuclear reactor - has been removed and filled with concrete so it is now permanently inoperable.

President Trump's decision to unilaterally cancel without a more effective replacement in place is another example of his technical ignorance and diplomatic incompetence."

Congressman Foster announced his formal support for the Iran Nuclear Deal in September 2015. Video and a transcript of the remarks at a press conference with then-Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Dr. Richard Garwin are available here.

He wrote about the importance of the Iran Nuclear Deal and its importance in an op-ed in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. It is available here.

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