Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) addressed the U.S. Senate to discuss recent actions by European countries and Australia in response to Iran’s activities. Kennedy noted that Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador and designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization after incidents involving attacks on Jewish sites in Melbourne and Sydney.
Kennedy referenced new developments from Europe, stating that the United Kingdom, France, and Germany have announced plans to trigger snapback sanctions on Iran. He explained that these sanctions were initially lifted under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement made during President Obama’s administration in which Iran pledged to halt its nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanction relief.
According to Kennedy, “President Obama agreed. He was naive. We removed the sanctions. The United Nations removed the sanctions. The United Kingdom, Germany, and France removed the sanctions. And, of course, the Ayatollah and Iran continued to develop a weapon.”
He expressed support for European allies’ decision to reimpose sanctions: “And as a result—and I am very proud of them—the United Kingdom and Germany and France have said: ‘OK. We are going to reimplement those sanctions that we agreed to take off of Iran when they signed the first nuclear deal, which Iran welched on almost immediately.’ And, again, I want to thank our friends in Europe.”
Kennedy raised concerns about enforcement of these measures: “But just because the sanctions have been brought back on Iran, that doesn’t mean that they will be enforced.” He suggested Russia and China might block efforts at the United Nations level: “I hope there is [a committee], but I doubt it because I think that Russia and China are going to block a United Nations committee to enforce the sanctions.”
He emphasized U.S. leadership is needed: “We have still got to enforce them. And the United States needs to take the lead on doing that.” Kennedy called for coordination with European partners so “the world understands that these sanctions are real and that we, as part of the West, are going to enforce them.”
He concluded by urging focus on this issue despite other international concerns: “This is important. I don’t want to see this get lost in our discussion about the importance of the Ukraine situation and other issues of national security.” Kennedy added his hope for strong action from both President Biden’s administration and European allies.
