Ayotte Condemns Administration's "Green Light" for Iran's Ballistic Missile Program

Statement

U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte today released the following statement regarding reports that the Obama administration agreed to lift U.N. sanctions on Iranian banks that financed Iran's ballistic missile program on the same day four Americans were released from prison.

"It appears there are no limits to how far the Obama administration will go to appease the world's foremost state sponsor of terror - even when it puts our own national security at risk. Not only did they give Iran $1.7 billion in cash for the release of our hostages, but the administration also gave Tehran a green light for its ballistic missile activities," said Senator Ayotte. "Lifting sanctions on Iran's "missile banks' shreds any remnants of the international effort to curtail Iran's ballistic missile program that threatens our forward-deployed troops, our allies like Israel, and eventually our homeland."

"In a misguided effort to defend their fundamentally flawed nuclear agreement, the Obama administration consistently and reflexively has agreed to concessions, exceptions, and side agreements for Tehran that have made a very bad deal even worse, and today's news is just the latest capitulation."

Ayotte has introduced legislation to impose tough primary and secondary sanctions against any sector of the Iranian economy-including Iran's banking sector-that directly or indirectly supports Iran's ballistic missile program.

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