Washington, D.C. (October 13, 2017) Congressman Steve Pearce today released the following statement after President Trump announced his new strategy on Iran:

"From the beginning, the Iran Deal was a dangerous agreement that acted against the interest of American national security and the safety of our allies in the region. Rather than working to stabilize the region, the Obama Administration made it easier for the Iran regime to further support terrorism.

By limiting the terms of the Iran deal to only the nuclear program and ignoring the funding of terrorism, human rights abuses, or Iran's ballistic missiles program, the previous Administration sacrificed American principles for a temporary gain. Now, we have the opportunity to reverse the tide and negotiate the strongest possible terms with Tehran to not only prevent uranium and nuclear production and development, but stifle the rouge state's ability to finance and support terror around the world.

As Chairman of the Terrorism and Illicit Finance Subcommittee, I understand the important sanctions work the Department of Treasury has done and how it has brought Tehran to the negotiation table. We must capitalize on these great efforts by Treasury, any less would be a missed opportunity. I will continue my work with the Administration to ensure future negotiations take full advantage of the United States' sanctions ability to curb state-funded terrorism, human rights abuses, and threats to global stability."