Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – (HOUSTON, Texas) – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in his new op-ed in Newsweek praised the Trump administration for taking action last week to prevent the expiration of an arms embargo this October – which, if lifted, would allow Iran to purchase weapons from China and Russia – and urged the administration to invoke the snapback mechanism in the UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 2231, the resolution that endorsed the catastrophic 2015 Obama-Biden Iran nuclear deal.
In the op-ed, Sen. Cruz laid out the clear legal prerogative of the United States to invoke the snapback mechanism, writing:
“President Trump and his administration did everything they could to avoid a showdown over the arms embargo, including mobilizing a coalition to advocate for last week's resolution. The administration is now rightly moving to invoke the snapback mechanism.
“However, predictably, political opponents of the president, including the Iran echo chamber from the Obama years, are suddenly saying the U.S. has no right to use the very failsafe that the Obama administration included as part of the deal they cut.
“Some say that Iran is not significantly violating the nuclear deal, or that it's not their fault because the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran. But Iran has admitted to violating the deal, those violations have been confirmed by the UN's nuclear watchdog and regardless—as then-Secretary of State Kerry confirmed in writing to the Senate in 2015—the U.S. has ‘full discretion to determine what is and is not’ a violation that triggers the snapback.
“Others argue that UNSCR 2231 says only current participants in the Iran deal can invoke the snapback mechanism, and the United States is no longer part of the Iran deal—thanks to President Trump, who courageously and wisely withdrew from it. But those critics are wrong. UNSCR 2231 reserves the right of any original participants of the Iran deal to invoke the snapback mechanism, which it explicitly defines as including the United States. How could it not? The entire point of the snapback was to protect the U.S. if Iran exploited the deal to endanger Americans.”
“However, predictably, political opponents of the president, including the Iran echo chamber from the Obama years, are suddenly saying the U.S. has no right to use the very failsafe that the Obama administration included as part of the deal they cut.
“Some say that Iran is not significantly violating the nuclear deal, or that it's not their fault because the U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran. But Iran has admitted to violating the deal, those violations have been confirmed by the UN's nuclear watchdog and regardless—as then-Secretary of State Kerry confirmed in writing to the Senate in 2015—the U.S. has ‘full discretion to determine what is and is not’ a violation that triggers the snapback.
“Others argue that UNSCR 2231 says only current participants in the Iran deal can invoke the snapback mechanism, and the United States is no longer part of the Iran deal—thanks to President Trump, who courageously and wisely withdrew from it. But those critics are wrong. UNSCR 2231 reserves the right of any original participants of the Iran deal to invoke the snapback mechanism, which it explicitly defines as including the United States. How could it not? The entire point of the snapback was to protect the U.S. if Iran exploited the deal to endanger Americans.”
Sen. Cruz also emphasized the need to invoke the snapback, adding:
“I have long called for invoking the snapback mechanism due to the threat posed by Iran. The necessity has never been more pressing. Without action, UNSCR 2231 will soon bulldoze what few speed bumps remain at the international level to slow down Iran's aggression and eventually, as other sanctions expire, the full development and deployment of Iran's nuclear program.”
He concluded:
“Having exhausted every other measure to stop Iran from receiving billions of dollars of weapons starting in October, the Trump administration is going back to the UN to put an end to the benefits Iran is receiving from the Iran deal. We can go there tomorrow to begin the process, we should do so and, very soon, we will do so.”
Read the full op-ed here.
Sen. Cruz has led the fight against the Iran Nuclear Deal since it was first negotiated. Since the U.S. withdrawal, he has pushed for an end to oil waivers, an end to nuclear waivers, and for invoking the U.N. snapback mechanism to restore international sanctions on Iran.
Recently, Sen. Cruz applauded the Trump administration’s decision to end the civil nuclear waivers for international nuclear cooperation with Iran.
Read his statement on the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent the expiration of the UN arms embargo on Iran here.
