Booker Claims Iran Had Anti-Nuke Fatwa Before Trump Deal Exit
Senator Cory Booker claimed Iran's Supreme Leader issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons and blamed Trump for destroying the 2015 Iran nuclear deal during a CNN appearance.
During an appearance on CNN’s Situation Room on Friday, Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, defended the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and argued that Trump destroyed a functioning framework that constrained Iran’s nuclear ambitions, according to Breitbart News.
The senator asserted that Trump is now attempting to restore conditions that existed before his presidency but that the damage has already been inflicted. He claimed the Iranian regime has become more extreme rather than less, and that Tehran still possesses highly-enriched uranium with no apparent plan to remove it.
Booker went further, insisting that before the Trump administration took office, the Strait of Hormuz remained open for navigation and Iran had pledged never to develop nuclear weapons. He maintained that the agreement provided the United States with extensive oversight of Iran’s nuclear program, including monitoring of milling and mining operations, surveillance cameras, and surprise inspections to verify compliance.
The senator referenced what he described as a religious edict from Iran’s leadership prohibiting the development of nuclear weapons. Donald Trump took all of that and blew it up, Booker stated.
The claim about a fatwa against nuclear weapons has been a long-standing talking point among defenders of the Iran deal, though critics have questioned both its authenticity and enforcement given Iran’s continued uranium enrichment activities and obstruction of international inspectors since the deal’s collapse.
Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear agreement in May 2018, reimposing sanctions on the Islamic Republic and pursuing what his administration called a maximum pressure campaign.
With information from Breitbart News
