Florida Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio usually see eye-to-eye on the issues, but when it came down to voting to confirm an Obama administration retread to be Secretary of State who backed the Iran nuclear deal, Sen. Scott voted against the nomination while Rubio supported it.
Antony Blinken, one of President Joe Biden’s top national security advisors, was confirmed by the Republicans-controlled Senate by a 78-22 vote majority vote.
Blinken supports the controversial Iran nuclear deal that former President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden championed, and when President Donald Trump decided to leave the agreement because of Iran’s continued violations of the terms of the pact, Blinker stated that “getting out of the Iran nuclear agreement was a mistake.”
Sen. Scott stated that he voted against Blinken because he couldn’t support someone who is “open to re-joining the disastrous Iran Deal or willing to return to Obama-era appeasement policies."
Scott added that those Obama/Biden policies “did nothing to promote freedom and democracy in Cuba and throughout Latin American,” specifically in Venezuela, we presume.
Blinker recently stated that revisiting the agreement and signing the U.S. back on would be predicated on what Iran was willing to do to make right by their past actions.
“We would then have to evaluate whether they were actually making good if they say they are coming back into compliance with their obligations, and then we would take it from there,” Blinken added, saying Biden’s ultimate aim would be a deal that also limited Iran’s missile program and support for regional proxies.”
The Biden administration signaling of normalizing relations with Iran by reentering the Iran nuclear deal has pressed Israel to put military options back on the table against Iran.
Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continue to support the argument that the Iran nuclear deal would allow the Islamist state to enrich uranium and ultimately lead to Iran developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran has sworn to destroy Israel.
Netanyahu recently reiterated that “there must be no return to the previous nuclear agreement,” adding that Israel “must stick to an uncompromising policy to ensure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.”
But in the event that Biden reenters the agreement, Israel has demands set to present the administration,
Israel’s demands are as follows:
- Halt the enriching of uranium
- Stop producing advanced centrifuges
- Cease supporting terror groups, foremost Lebanon’s Hezbollah
- End its military presence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen
- Stop terror activity against Israeli targets overseas
- Grant full access to the IAEA on all aspects of its nuclear program.
I voted against @ABlinken's nomination to lead @StateDept today. I can’t support a nominee open to re-joining the disastrous Iran Deal or willing to return to Obama-era appeasement policies that did nothing to promote freedom and democracy in Cuba and throughout Latin America.
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) January 26, 2021