Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: 'Iran has Hoodwinked the Obama Administration'

From her perch as chairwoman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., weighed in after Iran tested missiles in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. 

“It should be self-evident by now that Iran has hoodwinked the Obama administration and feels it can operate with impunity,” Ros-Lehtinen said on Wednesday. “Since the weak and dangerous JCPOA agreement was signed, the regime has repeatedly and openly defied the U.S. and the UN Security Council with ballistic missile activity, proving it never had any intention of complying with its international obligations. Iran continues to test President Obama’s resolve to see whether he will hold the regime accountable for its provocations and if the president fails to respond forcefully, he risks setting another dangerous precedent that will undoubtedly embolden Tehran further.

“The fact that Iran opted to fire these missiles with the words ‘Israel should be wiped from the pages of history,’ and during Vice President Biden’s visit to Israel is surely no coincidence,” she added. “The administration must not continue to be pushed around and allow the security of our ally Israel to be threatened. President Obama must move to immediately enforce the full array of U.S. sanctions against Iran for these violations, reinstitute previous UN sanctions, and he must signal that the U.S. will walk away from the JCPOA if Iran continues to corrupt and twist its parameters. Congress must do its part to ensure the administration enforces our sanctions to the full extent possible while moving aggressively to institute new sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program, human rights violations, and continued support of terrorism.”