Former US Vice President Mike Pence delivers remarks in Washington, February 16, 2023
Former US Vice President Mike Pence warned the Biden administration’s efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran paves a path "in gold" to nuclear weapons.
Speaking at an event in Washington DC by the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), he said: "On the day we left office, the Iranian regime was more isolated than ever before”, claiming the Biden administration is "threatening to unravel all of the progress we made in marginalizing the tyrannical regime in Tehran”.
He called the attempts to restore the deal, including waiving sanctions, "ill-advised and unwise" stressing that a new agreement would not stop the regime’s ambitions for nuclear weapons.
"A renewed nuclear deal won’t lead to peace and stability. It will lead to more terrorism, death and destruction, and destabilize the region," he stressed. "A renewed deal won’t block Iran’s path to a nuclear bomb, it will pave it in gold.”
The Biden administration has kept all of former President Donald Trump's 'maximum pressure' sanctions against Iran in place, but critics charge that enforcement has been weak, as Washington negotiated with Tehran to restore the JCPAO agreement.
Pence called for the prosecution of President Ebrahim Raisi, who has been tied to numerous human rights abuses, including the mass execution of political prisoners in 1988.
"He must be removed from office by the people of Iran and prosecuted for crimes against humanity and genocide," Pence said.
The Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and re-imposed sanctions that had been lifted as part of the accord.