Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

REP. MAX MILLER And BRYAN LEIB: Five Years Ago, Trump Ditched The Iran Deal And Made The World A Safer Place

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Five years ago on this day, the former President Donald Trump followed through on the campaign promise of withdrawing from the flawed Obama-Biden era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, more commonly known as  the Iran Nuclear Deal. The Jewish and Pro-Israel community remembers this day well, as it was a significant step toward protecting America’s Middle East allies and, indeed, the world from the danger of a nuclear armed Iran.

In withdrawing from the JCPOA, the United States sent a strong message to the Mullahs in Tehran and their allies in Beijing and Moscow that the United States of America was putting its national security — and that of its strong allies — ahead of fallacious hopes that Tehran would choose a reasonable path.

It sent a message that the United States would no longer sit on the sidelines as Tehran sent billions of dollars every year to their terrorist proxies around the world who have the blood of Americans, Israelis, and many others on its hands.

The Obama-Biden JCPOA enriched the Iranian regime and enabled its malign behavior, while at best delaying its ability to pursue nuclear weapons and allowing it to preserve nuclear research and development.

In addition to withdrawing from the JCPOA, President Trump instructed the Departments of Treasury and State to enact the stiffest sanctions ever leveled against the Islamic Republic of Iran. It was the start of the maximum pressure and maximum sanctions campaign that would ultimately bring the Khamenei Regime to its financial knees.

The sanctions targeted critical sectors of Iran’s economy, such as its energy, petrochemical, and financial sectors — all of which are controlled by the organs of terror and repression that define the Khamenei regime.

The United States withdrawal from the JCPOA pressured Iran to alter its role as the lead fiscal sponsor of terrorism proxies around the world such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Jihad, the Houthis and more. The U.S. sanctions helped stem the flow of  funds toward terrorist activities globally and Iran’s pursuit of nuclear terror.

Under the Biden administration, with less focus on national security for America and its allies, the Middle East looks much different today than it did five years ago.  The Iranian regime grows stronger, the world is more at risk from Iran-sponsored terrorism, the Iranian people are repressed at every turn, and the Chinese Communist Party, no friend of freedom, weighs increasingly heavy in the region through its strengthened friendship with Iran.

Just months after President Biden assumed office, Beijing signed a deal to invest $400B over the next 25 years into Iran. We saw recently the central role China played in brokering a normalization agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia.  This Communist investment in the region is unprecedented and bodes poorly for America’s regional security. Furthermore, we all know that the Khamenei regime will not use this outside investment to further their own people but they will use it to grow their terrorist proxies.

One thing is for sure, when America does not lead with strength and conviction on the world stage, our enemies will exploit our weakness every single time.

The former President knew that peace is achieved through strength, not through weakness. Our current President is more concerned with appeasing our enemies than prioritizing America’s national security. America First has been replaced with weakness.

Even if the Biden administration does not understand it, Americans know that an America First strategy is not just good for the national security interests of our nation but also for our allies throughout the world. They also know that standing with America’s oldest ally in the Middle East, Israel, is non-negotiable.

On this day, let us pause to reflect on how much ground the United States has lost on the world stage under President Biden. Let us re-commit our focus to America’s national security and regional interests and leading on the world stage for peace and freedom. Otherwise, the vacuum will be filled by terrorism and tyranny.

Max Miller is a Member of Congress representing Ohio’s 7th District. 

Bryan Leib is the former Executive Director of the Iranian Americans for Liberty and an Advisory Board Member of the Zionist Organization of America – Florida.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.