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Bill Hagerty (R-TN)
Bill Hagerty
Republican·Tennessee

ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Fox News Sunday on Fox News Channel to Discuss Iran, Senate Recess

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They don’t seem to favor diplomacy unless they can use it to tap us along. [President Donald Trump] has seen right through this. We have maintained maximum military capabilities. In fact, he has enhanced our military capability. And what you see now is an act of desperation because President Trump had prepared to unleash unmitigated fury on Iran, just the past weekend, when they came to the table again and said, “No, we want to make a deal.” And let’s not forget that [Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent] and the team at Treasury have put incredible financial pressure on Iran. Their economy is in tatters right now. They are doing the same thing over and over again. I know people call that the definition of insanity; I think that’s diplomacy Iranian-style, coming back with more of the same demands, et cetera, et cetera. But what has happened is that they continue to degrade in their position; we continue to advance in terms of economic pressure, military pressure. Hagerty on a pending peace deal in Iran: There is going to have to be a deal. I think the American public is indicating it’s ready for a deal to be done, and that deal could be at the end of a military operation as opposed to diplomacy. It’s up to the Iranians, but I think we’re very close, particularly as I listen to Secretary Bessent… I think the [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)], the Iran deal that we saw in [former President Barack Obama’s administration], demonstrated that you can’t trust the Iranians. Everything that we agree to is going to have to be verifiable and enforceable. President Trump has already seen this movie before. Obama just handed over pallets of cash—billions of dollars—and instead of abiding by the agreement, [Iran] continued their nuclear program, surreptitiously, and they then began to foment terror. That will not happen again. I think President Trump has been incredibly clear about this, and what we’re trying to do is maintain a posture that we can allow the Iranian economy to rebuild, the 90 million Iranian people to prosper. Hagerty on other Middle Eastern countries joining the Abraham Accords: I think the entire region has responded to this… Iran has, on a 360-degree basis, made enemies of everybody in its neighborhood. Now, we’re all coming together. I expect to see more—Saudi Arabia, for example—and more nations in the region step up and enter the Abraham Accords. We are going to see economic prosperity break out like we’ve never seen before in that region, further isolating the Iranian regime. I think it’s just all part and parcel of a major transformation that needed to happen 47 years ago. And finally, President Trump has been able to step up and address it right now. Hagerty on Iran’s alliance with Russia and China: I think a lot of people are looking toward the [U.S.–China bilateral meeting in Washington, D.C.] in September, and I think there is much that will come from it. But I think President Trump has been increasingly clear with [Chinese President Xi Jinping] that [China] should not cooperate nor support in any way the Iranian regime… What we are going to continue to do is mount increasing pressure on the Iranian regime directly. And we are going to increase sanctions; that’s exactly what Secretary Bessent has done. And if you look at what we did in the Senate, [the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026 placed] more pressure on this “Axis of Evil” that was just described. We are going to continue with sanctions; we are going to continue with military pressure. I think that everybody in the world needs to wake up and see this. That’s all the more reason why this escalation with Iran must be successful. I think it

Source: https://www.hagerty.senate.gov/press-releases/2026/08/13/icymi-hagerty-joins-fox-news-sunday-on-fox-news-channel-to-discuss-iran-senate-recess
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Record ID: f5ba4f4e-e23d-4f44-a8b9-267262312720

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