NEWS

Reed stands firm against proposed Iranian nuclear deal

Congressman says consensus clear from what he has heard throughout 23rd District

Ray Finger
rfinger@stargazette.com | @SGRayFinger

BIG FLATS U.S. Rep. Tom Reed said his stance against the proposed Iranian nuclear deal reflects what he has heard at town hall meetings throughout the 23rd District.

The consensus is clear, he said Thursday at a news conference: “Stand firm in our opposition to this Iranian nuclear deal, because it is not in America’s security interests to support this agreement going forward,” said Reed, R-Corning.

He outlined his reasons why he believes it is not in America’s security interests. According to Reed:

  • It does not prevent Iran becoming a nuclear power.
  • It does reduce the number of the Iranian centrifuges, but it keeps them online.
  • It allows conventional weapons and ballistic missile technology to be provided to Iran.

Inspections will be permitted only 24 days a month, and Iran has a lot of control over where those inspections will occur. “That is a dangerous cocktail. That is something that’s going to add gasoline to an already incendiary situation,” Reed said. “This is a known terrorist nation.”

At least $50 billion would be given toIran as a result of sanctions being lifted immediately, he said.

“Giving them $50 billion up front without any indication, in my opinion, of a concerted change in their behavior is dangerous,” Reed said, adding that money could be used for potential terrorist activities against Americans on American soil.

Additionally, the release of four American citizens who are in Iranian prisons should have been part of the negotiations, he said.

“I’m not offering to do nothing. What we need to do is reject this deal, put pressure on the regime, impose the sanctions, put the economic force on them and really try to get the regime in a position where it either breaks and fundamentally changes its way, or we get a new regime. We get the population rising up,” Reed said.

Asked how he would increase pressure, he said: “I believe if we reject this agreement, what will happen is you’re going to put a question to the world partners, and the world partners are going to have to decide are they going to do business with Iran, or are they going to do business with America? At that point in time, I think they’re going to side with us,” he said.

“This is not a choice between war or nothing,” Reed said. “This is a path of raising pressure on the regime, standing with the people in Iran that are in opposition to this terrorist regime, and dealing with it in a much more position of strength than weakness that I think we’re at now.”

Contacted after Reed’s news conference, Moira Scheuring, of Dryden, who organized a rally outside Reed’s Ithaca office Wednesday to urge Reed to support the deal, said the proposed deal is in the best interest of Americans because it does provide the option to put sanctions back anytime they are needed.

“It’s stopping Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and the whole world has approved it except for us, and we’re supposed to be the leader of the free world,” said Scheuring, who was part of the demonstration. They had planned to present to Reed a petition to let him know he has many constituents who disagree very strongly with him, she said.

“We’ve collected 2,000 signatures of constituents here supporting the Iran deal,” she said. “We have a letter from the Ithaca Jewish Voice for Peace firmly behind the Iran nuclear deal.”

State Sen. Tom O’Mara, R-Big Flats, who also opposes the deal, joined Reed on Thursday.

“What does the United States of America get out of this deal? I haven’t seen anything. I know we’re giving up an awful lot,” he said. “There are way too many unknowns in the entirety of this agreement out there to be moving forward on such a thing.”

State Assemblyman Bill Nojay, R-Pittsford, said Iranians have a history of cheating, yet members of Congress are being asked to vote on an agreement that assumes they will comply.

“These guys make Tony Soprano look like a choir boy. They make the torture, the brutality, the ruthlessness of the worst of the drug cartels look like Boy Scouts,” he said of the Iranian government.

“These are people who will torture you, sever limbs, kill members of your family, destroy your home, push you out of your homes and out of your country if you dare to raise the prospect of bringing democracy and human rights to your country,” Nojay said. “These are bad actors.”

Follow Ray Finger on Twitter @SGRayFinger.