Ohio's Senators are taking opposite sides after President Trump announced Tuesday he would back out of an agreement meant to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
After the announcement, Republican Sen. Rob Portman said he supports President Trump鈥檚 decision to back out of the Iran nuclear deal.
Portman said he didn鈥檛 think the initial deal鈥攏egotiated under the Obama administration鈥攚ent far enough to restrict Iran鈥檚 ballistic missile program and support for terrorist organizations.
"My hope is that now we have this opportunity to be able to strength the agreement for our national security and for the region and fix some of these flaws,鈥� he said.
Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown said the president鈥檚 decision only makes it harder to hold Iran accountable.
鈥淏y walking away from the most intrusive inspections program in history, the President could be giving Iran an excuse to restart nuclear activities that even his own advisers agree have been halted under this agreement," he said in a written statement.
Everyone agrees we must prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and the President has only made it harder to hold Iran accountable. -SB
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown)
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By backing out of the agreement, Trump said economic sanctions against the country will be re-imposed, but Portman said that will happen gradually, which may push Iran to negotiate a new agreement.