Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state, told Newsmax on Wednesday that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is correct when she said that the Biden-Harris administration has been tough on Iran.
He contends it's actually the Trump administration that set things in motion to where the U.S. may now find out if Tehran has nuclear weapons.
"She's right, and it's a confounding dynamic that we find ourselves in," Rubin said on "National Report." "Gov. [Tim] Walz mentioned it last night that [former President] Donald Trump withdrew unilaterally from the Iran nuclear deal that has now enabled Iran to get closer to a nuclear weapon than ever in its history. And frankly, [Sen.] J.D. Vance [R-Ohio] responded by saying that we gave $100 billion to Iran, which is false, factually false.
"The sanctions are tough on Iran, but you do need to have … diplomacy and deals and allies to secure American national security interests. That nuclear deal did secure the interest. Donald Trump ripped it up without an alternative. It has now allowed Iran a pathway to a nuclear weapon and now we're in a precarious situation because, if Israel strikes back, this escalation will continue."
Rubin added: "The question then is what if they are that close to a nuclear weapon? What could they do? That was not a question that we had when the nuclear deal was in place that Donald Trump recklessly withdrew from."
During the CBS News-hosted vice presidential candidates' debate on Tuesday, Walz criticized Trump for pulling the United States out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The deal, which Trump abandoned in 2018, had capped Iran's uranium enrichment at 3.67% purity and limited its stockpile of this material to 447 pounds. Tehran has since far exceeded these limits.
"Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon because of Donald Trump's fickle leadership," Walz said during the debate.
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE -- See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com