Gen. Dempsey: Iran Deal Lowers Risk of Iran Getting Nuclear Arms

Says Deal Gives US Time to 'Confront' Iran for Other Reasons

Testifying before an overwhelmingly hostile Congress on the Iran nuclear deal, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey says that he generally supports the deal, believing it lowers the risk of Iran getting nuclear arms while still giving the US plenty of time to “confront” Iran about other things.

Dempsey insisted he had advised the White House to keep sanctions against Iran in place for “as long as possible” and to keep on working with allies about possible action against Iran on any other pretext with the resolution of the nuclear issue.

Gen. Dempsey also dismissed concerns about Iran getting frozen money returned to them, saying he believes much of that money will be used as foreign reserves, and that it is “highly exaggerated” to think Iran is just going to send it all to Hezbollah.

Several on the Senate Armed Services Committee, notably Sen. McCain (R – AZ), were loudly opposed to the deal, believing that Iran’s money will allow them to prevent the ouster of the Assad government in Syria, and was therefore tantamount to supporting terror.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.