Kaine Statement on U.S.-Iran Agreement

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees, released the following statement regarding the agreement reached between the United States and Iran: “I welcome news of progress in talks to end the war between the United States and Iran, which has now passed the 100-day mark. I have the deepest appreciation for the thousands of U.S. servicemembers, including many from Virginia, who remain deployed to the region. “While any movement toward ending this war is a positive development, it won’t bring back those who lost their lives, nor will it bring gas prices back to pre-war levels. It also doesn’t change the fact that this was an entirely unnecessary war whose outcome was both predictable and preventable. The United States had a carefully negotiated nuclear agreement with Iran until President Trump tore it up during his first term over the objections of his own Secretaries of State and Defense. That decision will go down as one of the greatest foreign policy blunders in American history—one that was made even more catastrophic by the President’s decision to launch a reckless, deeply unpopular, and illegal conflict. “I urge all parties to continue negotiations over the nuclear program in good faith—diplomacy is the only real path to ensure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. If more war were the answer to lasting peace in the Middle East, we would have found it a long time ago. The details of any agreement with the Iranian regime, including any financial or sanctions relief, must be carefully scrutinized. I echo my Republican colleagues in reminding the Trump Administration that any comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran must, by law, be submitted to Congress for review before it can take effect.” ###