Statement by Senator Ted Cruz on the Nuclear Deal with Iran

HOUSTON, Texas — U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the following statement regarding the disastrous nuclear deal the Obama Administration is trying to make with Iran:

"It is time to acknowledge that the Iran talks have been a disaster. Today I am calling upon former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, under whose leadership this bad deal began, and other Presidential candidates to join me in demanding that Secretary Kerry stop negotiating with this hostile and violent enemy of America and immediately leave Vienna.

"We are now on the eve of what is by my count the fifth 'deadline' for a comprehensive nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is still unclear if this arbitrary date will be more respected than any of its predecessors, but it hardly matters at this point. By any metric, the negotiations have failed—at least from the perspective of America's national security. All of our key priorities—stopping enrichment of uranium, removing stockpiles of enriched uranium, and exposing and eradicating the potential military applications of Iran's nuclear program—have been ceded to the Iranians.

"Perhaps there was some hope for this process two years ago when Hasan Rouhani became president of Iran. Given Iran's dire economic circumstances caused by the unprecedented program of international sanctions, we could have demanded concessions from the mullahs before any negotiations took place—notably the release of all Americans unjustly held in Iran and the recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Once negotiations began, we could have made it clear the above conditions would have to be met before sanctions relief. And rather than stove-piping Iran's nuclear program from its abysmal human rights record, aggressive state sponsorship of terrorism and ballistic missile program—the only purpose of which is to deliver a nuclear weapon—we should have insisted these issues be addressed to our satisfaction as well.

"Unfortunately, in their unseemly eagerness to make a deal, President Obama and Secretary Kerry have squandered all our advantages and ceded all our priorities. There is no possibility for an acceptable agreement at this point because there is no incentive for the Iranians to make one. Our first priority must be to end this farce; the best we can do is cut our losses."