Carter: Iran deal 'takes no option away'
July 30, 2015
US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter sought to reassure lawmakers Wednesday that a recently agreed Iran nuclear deal would not prevent Washington from using military force against Iran if needed.
"If Iran were to commit aggression, our robust force posture ensures we can rapidly surge an overwhelming array of forces into the region, leveraging our most advanced capabilities, married with sophisticated munitions that put no target out of reach," Carter told the Senate Armed Services Committee."
US President Barack Obama's administration is attempting to sell skeptical lawmakers on the Iran nuclear deal reached earlier this month, which Carter defended as preferable to a military strike.
"This is a good deal because it removes a continued source of threat and uncertainty in a comprehensive and verifiable way, by preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," he said. "It's a deal that takes no option away from a future president. This is an important achievement and a deal that deserves your support."
Carter recently returned from a visit to the Middle East last week to discuss the accord with allies, pledging US support to both Israel, whose government has been critical of the deal and to Gulf allies concerned about a resurgent Iran.
The Defense Secretary told lawmakers that US forces would remain vigilant in maintaining Middle East stability and defending Israel, battling the "Islamic State" extremist group, and checking Iranian hegemony.
Many US lawmakers have cited Israeli opposition to the deal as a primary concern, arguing that restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities are not in place for long enough and that the cash windfall Tehran potentially will receive under the deal could be used to finance destabilizing activities in the region.
"The Iran agreement not only paves Iran's path to a nuclear capability, it will further Iran's emergence as a dominant military power in the Middle East," Senator John McCain said.
Congress has until September 17 to weigh in on the Iran deal. It would take a two-thirds majority in both houses to reject the deal - which observers say is unlikely.
bw/sgb (dpa, AP, AFP)