Mills Says Blame for Iran Arming Terrorists Cannot be Partisan

The nuclear capabilities of Iran seem only to grow stronger. Their funding of proxy militias has similarly increased. Is it the fault of President Trump pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, or President Obama, who sent $1.7 billion in cash to them that they used for nuclear enrichment and militia funding? Representative Cory Mills (R-FL) said on a Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that "we must be able to call it and lay the blame where it is without partisanship."

Rep. Mills made these comments during a hearing on House Resolution 599, which would encourage the European Union to recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, owing to their sponsorship by Iran. The resolution has received bipartisan support on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which Rep. Mills commended.

However, he took time to call out Representative Gregory Meeks (D-NY), who had previously said President Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) was based on "spite" and "accelerates Iran's path to nuclearization."

Mills began by calling United Nations Resolution 2231, which endorsed the JCPOA, "a failed resolution." Moreover, blame cannot be placed squarely on President Trump for withdrawing from this deal, pointing out that "we also had President Obama, who released $1.7 billion in cash" to Iran.

As the Washington Times reported, that money went primarily to Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias such as Quds Force and Houthi rebels in Yemen.

"So I want to go ahead and say that we must make sure that we prevent a nuclear Iran, we must ensure that we hold our adversaries accountable, we must acknowledge Hamas, the Houthis, Hezbollah under General Hassan Nasrallah, as well as the rest of the proxy militias of Iran as an enemy."

More to the point, Mills continued, former UN Secretary Generals Ban Ki-Moon and Antonio Guterres have said Iran has been sending weapons to their proxy militias in clear violation of the JCPOA.

"There must be accountability for those who actually violate these agreements, and we must be able to call it and lay the blame where it is without partisanship," Mills concluded.

On X (formerly Twitter), Mills posted his comments during the hearing, saying "President Trump was right to withdraw from the FAILED JCPOA agreement. Iran was continuing its nuclear programs, and the U.S. would have only further empowered the nefarious Iranian regime through JCPOA sanctions relief. We must not forget that under the Obama-Biden admin, $1.7 BILLION in cash was released to Iran, which allowed them to build up their nuclear weapons program & fuel Hizballah activities. I support H.Res. 599 because we must recognize Hizballah as the terrorist organization they ARE."