Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 19, 2020

The situation in Iran has changed drastically since Trump left the deal. So we went searching for the details of what the leading Democrats would do to contain the Iranian threat amid the new tensions brewing between Iran and the U.S.

Spoiler alert: Theres not a lot out there. But in no particular order, heres what the top seven candidates have to say. (Were adding Michael Bloomberg because his polling numbers would qualify him for the debates, but his self-funded campaign has him below the outside campaign contribution threshold.)

Bernie Sanders

As you know, the nuclear deal with Iran was worked on with a number of our allies, the Vermont senator said at the debate. We have got to undo what Trump did, bring that coalition together and make sure that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.

Sanders also sees rejoining the nuclear deal as a means of containing the escalating non-nuclear tensions.

Joe Biden

As he said in the debate, Biden believes the Iran deal was doing its job.

It was working. It was being held tightly, he said. There was no movement on the part of the Iranian government to get closer to a nuclear weapon.

If Tehran returns to compliance with the deal, President Biden would re-enter the agreement, using hard-nosed diplomacy and support from our allies to strengthen and extend it, while more effectively pushing back against Irans other destabilizing activities, his website reads.

Pete Buttigieg

Buttigieg in the debate said he would rejoin the Iran deal as a means of keeping Iran from becoming nuclear and, like Sanders, suggested that the agreement would also stem escalating non-nuclear tensions.

By gutting the Iran nuclear deal one that, by the way, the Trump administration itself admitted was working, certified that it was preventing progress toward a nuclear Iran by gutting that, they have made the region more dangerous and set off the chain of events that we are now dealing with as it escalates even closer to the brink of outright war, he said.

This agreement was concluded not to do Iran a favor, but because it is in our national security interest just as a parallel policy of confronting Irans support for terrorism and abysmal human rights record reflects our values and security interests, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said.

Amy Klobuchar

Klobuchar during the debate said she would rejoin the deal, but also suggested that she wanted some improvements related to the expiration dates of some enrichment restrictions and on what the nuclear inspectors are allowed to do.

I think there are changes you can make to the agreement that are sunset, some changes to the inspections, but overall that is what we should do, she said.

We need a realistic long term strategy for Iran that will contain its aggressive actions and prevent it from gaining nuclear weapons, the Minnesota senator said, but did not add details.

Tom Steyer

During the debate, Steyer cast the Iran nuclear deal as having stemmed Irans nuclear ambitions and its adventurism.

What worked with President Obama was an alliance of our allies and us putting economic pressure on them for them to give up their military tactic, he said. That, to me, is called strategy.

Elizabeth Warren

We also need to address serious concerns about Irans policies beyond its nuclear program, including its ballistic missile program and support for destabilizing regional proxies, she said. The [Iran deal] made addressing these problems easier by taking the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran off the table.

Mike Bloomberg

In 2015, Bloomberg said he had deep reservations about the Iran deal, especially with its sunset provisions, and in an op-ed on Bloomberg News he accused President Obama of playing politics and smearing critics.

In Other News

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Watching the hearing was like seeing two movies simultaneously, one about the recent physical threats to Jews, and another about the nuances of how to confront Israel boycott movements.

Another two witnesses called by the committees Republican minority seemed to come prepared for a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing.

You talking to meatball?

How concerned is Bloomberg that hes missing the debates? Not so concerned, considering the photo mashup of his face and a meatball that his campaign posted during the debate on Tuesday.

Worth A Look

Tweet So Sweet

Tom Steyer is the waiter walking over with mozzarella sticks 30 seconds after the couple starts the breakup convo. https://t.co/SY5QN4CCeC

— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) January 15, 2020

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See the original post here:
Where the top 7 Democratic candidates stand on Iran - The Jerusalem Post

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