Dem Rep. Smith: Israel ‘Had to’ Strike, Iran’s Nuke Progress Was ‘Totally Different’ than in Past, Wasn’t Going to Negotiate
On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said Israel “had to” strike Iran because “it sure looked like they weren’t going to negotiate out of this.” And Iran’s progress towards a nuclear weapon was different than in the past.
Smith stated that the “Trump administration does want to get to a negotiated end to this, because it could spin out of control in a very dangerous way. I think those are the two big focuses of U.S. policy. And then the other big question is, well, what’s Israel’s endgame here? When are they going to be satisfied that Iran’s nuclear program is stopped? And there’s considerable disagreement about the military capability of doing that, even as I think there’s widespread support for Israel. Iran pushed the limit. They were pushing towards getting a nuclear weapon quickly, to a level that, given their existential threat to Israel, Israel simply could not tolerate. And I think we all understood that.”
Later, host Erin Burnett asked, “Congressman, we have all heard this prime minister of Israel go in front of the U.N. and talk about how Iran is fill in the blank away from a nuclear weapon and the world must take action. And it could be months, it could be a couple of years. But we have all heard it so many times, and now we are hearing it again that this was the 11th hour and it was now or never. Is that the truth? Do you believe them this time?”
Smith answered, “Oh, look, this is totally different, as has been widely reported. Just in the last few weeks, few months, Iran has significantly increased their uranium enrichment. And I’m forgetting off the top of my head the numbers, but they have increased their stockpile that’s over 60% that has put them closer and closer to a weapon. They’ve specifically pushed this, which was a dangerous thing to do, but it sure looked like they weren’t going to negotiate out of this. So, this is clearly different. I know the estimates in the past have been in different places, but just in the last few months, Iran has massively increased their enrichment of uranium. And then the IAEA just came out yesterday, I think, two days ago, and said that Iran is not in compliance and blocking access. So, yes, this is different.”
Later, on NewsNation’s “Cuomo,” Smith said that “Israel had to do this.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
