Fact check: Ad links Rand Paul to Obama on Iran
A conservative group welcomed Sen. Rand Paul into the presidential race with a TV ad that says he “supports Obama’s negotiations with Iran.” That’s misleading. Paul does support negotiating a nuclear deal, but he wants Congress to approve it — a major difference between the Republican senator and Democratic president.
Paul was one of 47 senators who signed a letter to Iranian officials warning that any deal reached between them and Obama could be undone by Congress or overturned by a future president. Obama later said he was “embarrassed” for those who signed the letter. Paul also is a co-sponsor of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 that seeks to provide Congress an up-or-down vote on any nuclear pact with Iran. Obama has threatened to veto the bill.
However, Paul also goes too far in his response to the ad when he says “almost every element of the ad is a lie.” The ad is correct when it says that Obama and Paul opposed “tough new sanctions on Iran.” In January, Paul opposed a Senate bill
The adFoundation for a Secure and Prosperous AmericaRick ReedSwift Boat Veterans for Truth ad campaign in 2004The group says
The ad shows violent images of Iran and multiple on-screen pairings of Paul and Obama as the narrator says, “The Senate is considering tough new sanctions on Iran. President Obama says he’ll veto them, and Rand Paul is standing with him. Rand Paul supports Obama’s negotiations with Iran. But he doesn’t understand the threat.”
The video then cuts to an audio clip of Paul saying of Iran, “You know, it’s ridiculous to think that they’re a threat to our national security.”
“Rand Paul is wrong and dangerous,” the ad’s narrator concludes. “Tell him to stop siding with Obama, because even one Iranian bomb would be a disaster.” The ad ends with the image of an exploding nuclear bomb.
PAUL ON NEGOTIATIONS
As the ad says, some in the Senate did considerNuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2015
In an interview with CQ Roll Call in January, Paul said he opposed the timing of the bill, fearing it might jeopardize the support of other members of the P5+1 partnership (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China — plus Germany).
Since late 2013, the P5+1 partners and Iran have been operating under an interim agreementannounced
“My fear is that in eagerness, you know, to put more sanctions on those who are overly eager … could get us to a point where there are only two solutions: either Iran gets a bomb or there’s war, whereas right now we have a third solution which is a little better,” Paul said in the CQ Roll Call
Paul added that while he did not support additional sanctions while a deal is being negotiated, he did support legislation that “[lets] Iran know that if they don’t comply with the current agreement, the interim agreement, that sanctions would be resumed. I think this a better way than placing new sanctions on. Then what would happen is you would have presumption of what is already out there, and it would be based on Iranian noncompliance instead of Congress setting new parameters.”
Paul echoed those sentiments during a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Paul, Jan. 21
Obama threatened to veto
But contrary to the ad’s claim that Paul “supports Obama’s negotiations,” Paul has parted with the president over the need for congressional approval of a deal. Paul has insisted that Congress be given final say on the agreement, something Obama has opposed.
Paul was one of 47 Republicans who signed an open letterwe noted later said
Although the letter was addressed to Iranian leadership, Paul told Secretary of State John Kerry in a Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing on March 11
Paul, March 11
Paul also is a co-sponsor of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015threatened to vetosaysseveral votes shy
It remains unclear where Paul stands on the interim “framework” deal with Iran announcedToday on April 8, Paul said he was “somewhat skeptical” of the agreement, but said very little information about it has been shared and “I’m going to keep an open mind and look at the agreement.”
That measured response is a far cry from other potential GOP candidates like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Texas governor Rick Perry, who vowed to immediately nix the deal
Added Paul, “I’m one of the ones who have said all along that Congress puts the sanctions on. I voted for the sanctions.”
We reached out to Paul’s office to see which sanctions he was referring to, but we did not hear back.
The record shows that on Dec. 1, 2011, Paul voted for sanctions against Iranvoted on Dec. 15, 2011, againstIran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act
IRAN A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT?
As for the audio of Paul saying Iran is not a threat to U.S. security, the ad does not make it clear that it is from a 2007 radio interview. At the time, Paul was campaigning for his father, Ron Paul, who was running for president.
Rand Paul, 2007
Host
PaulYou know, it’s ridiculous to think that they’re a threat to our national security.
Paul was referring to a Sept. 17, 2007, address
But, Abizaid said, “There are ways to live with a nuclear Iran. Let’s face it, we lived with a nuclear Soviet Union; we’ve lived with a nuclear China; we’re living with nuclear other powers as well. But I would tell you, I think it’s very, very important that we do what we can to prevent that from happening. And we should not underestimate our ability to do that.”
Asked on the Today
In the interview on Fox News, Hannity said he didn’t hear Paul saying “under no circumstances could we ever trust the Iranians with nukes.”
Paul responded, “No, we should not trust them with a nuclear weapon ever.”