GOP seeks ‘maximum pressure’ on Iran with nuclear clock ticking

by Brad Dress

Republican lawmakers want a return to “maximum pressure” on Iran in the second Trump administration and are widely open to the idea of strikes on Iranian nuclear sites if it’s the only way to prevent Tehran from wielding nuclear weapons. 

President-elect Trump is expected to increase pressure on Iran through sanctions as a first step to deter Tehran from procuring a nuclear weapon. But his team is also reportedly considering the possibility of military strikes.

Lawmakers caution that such action depends on how Iran’s nuclear weapons production develops and how Tehran acts in the Middle East, where it has suffered repeated blows to its proxies and allies in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. 

“These guys hate us. They hate Israel, and we’ve lost deterrence,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a key House Armed Services Committee lawmaker, noting the two Iranian attacks on the main U.S. ally in the Middle East, Israel.

“Let’s try to restrict all their energy exports.”

Bacon also said he was open to strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

“If Iran does stuff that they’ve been doing, like doing these missile attacks, or other kinds of attacks on Americans, we should use that opportunity to take out their nuclear force,” he said. “If Iran opens the door by being aggressive with us on something, that should be our response.” 

The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has warned that Iran has enriched uranium to 60 percent. It must reach just short of the 90 percent threshold to produce a nuclear weapon.

A November report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence indicated that Iran has enough fissile material for a dozen nuclear bombs if uranium is further enriched, showing Tehran is on the cusp of producing a weapon of mass destruction. 

Trump’s team is considering airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites if economic pressure isn’t enough to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, The Wall Street Journal reported. Publicly, however, Trump has avoided answering questions about the possibility of strikes on Iran. 

“I can’t tell you that. It’s a wonderful question,” he said in a Monday news conference. “Am I going to do preemptive strikes? Can you imagine if I said yes or no? You would say, ‘That was strange he answered that question.’” 

But in a Time magazine interview this month, Trump did not rule out a potential war with Iran during his second presidency.