Sen. Johnson on Iran deal: I will vote to disapprove this awful and dangerous agreement.

"I have repeatedly stated that I believe President Obama lost the negotiation with Iran before it ever began.  By acknowledging Iran’s right to enrich uranium instead of demanding the dismantling of its enrichment program, and also by lifting some of the sanctions, he gave away almost all the leverage we had to negotiate a good deal.   The Iranians accurately assessed the administration's weakness and took full advantage of it. 

"The result is a deal that will allow tens of billions – and, over time, hundreds of billions – of dollars to flow into Iran, strengthening the economy and military of the largest state sponsor of terrorism.  The anytime, anywhere inspection regime that we were assured would provide the verification and accountability that such a deal requires instead gave way to secret side deals with the IAEA that reportedly allow Iran basically to inspect itself. 

"As a result, I believe that rather than preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the deal sets Iran on a path to eventually developing a nuclear weapon.  If that isn't bad enough, the deal also lifts the arms embargo and the embargo on ballistic missile technology, without requiring any improvement in Iran's behavior, but based on the passage of time alone. 

"The choice is not between this deal and war.  The choice should have been – and should be – between this deal and a better deal obtained by increasing sanctions until Iran finally comes to the negotiating table willing to dismantle its nuclear program and end its sponsorship of terrorism.  Until that time, Iran should remain isolated and kept as weak as possible to minimize the harm it can do to the region and the world, and the U.S. must maintain the military capability and credible threat to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"I will vote to disapprove this awful and dangerous agreement."