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Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - How Hillary Clinton Helped Enact the Toughest Sanctions in History On Iran

October 20, 2015

If you've been watching, listening, reading, or scrolling through the news lately, you probably know that the Obama administration recently reached a deal to put a lid on Iran's nuclear program (you can even follow the Iran Deal on Twitter).

But here's what you might not know: The Iran Deal has its roots in Hillary Clinton's hard work as secretary of state, when she twisted arms in the international community to impose the strongest-ever international sanctions on Iran.

The Iran nuclear threat

Iran had been working for years under the Bush administration to develop the technology to build a nuclear weapon?a terrifying prospect for neighbors like Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the West. By 2009, Iran was racing toward its goal—and a lot of Western nations felt powerless to stop them.

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When President Obama took office and asked Hillary to serve as secretary of state, countering Iran's nuclear program was one of their top priorities. They worked together to craft a two-pronged strategy: pressure and engagement. But the Iranians rejected every attempt at engagement, while they continued to defy the international community by enriching uranium in pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

So President Obama and Hillary devised a plan to ratchet up pressure on Iran by increasing its military presence in the region—including an additional aircraft carrier, a battleship, and top-notch radar and missile defense systems. Meanwhile, Hillary pushed for international sanctions, including economic penalties aimed at Iran's energy and financial sectors, through the U.N. Security Council.

But the stakes were high: If they failed, it could lead to military action.

What did Hillary do to get sanctions passed?

In order to put the sanctions in place, Hillary had to get nine of 15 countries in the U.N. Security Council to agree. Russia and China presented a big challenge: Both nations agreed Iran shouldn't be allowed to have nuclear weapons, but they weren't willing to do anything about it. And as permanent members of the U.N Security Council, they had the power to veto any deal.

So Hillary got to work.

" It was tricky to say the least. It reminded me of backroom negotiations in the Senate, with all the horse trading, arm-twisting, vote counting, and hardball politics that go into passing major legislation."

China was the key vote. Hillary knew that if the U.S. could convince Beijing to vote for sanctions, the rest of the Security Council would follow. Hillary, President Obama, and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice were all in talks with Chinese officials—and they finally came to an initial agreement.

Here comes a plot twist: In May 2010, Iran made its own agreement with two Security Council members. Brazil and Turkey agreed to let Iran keep enriching uranium. That was unacceptable to the U.S. and its allies—and it put the agreement that Hillary had been working on with China at risk.

Hillary wasn't ready to give up. She flew to China and made the case to leaders about what sanctions would mean for stability in the Middle East, a steady flow of oil, and a good relationship between China and the U.S. Hillary's visit got the conversation back on track.

But they still weren't out of the woods until weeks later, when, in a spontaneous encounter in a Lima, Peru hotel bar, Hillary and the Chinese Ambassador to the United States reached a final agreement. China was finally on board.

Days later in New York, the U.N. Security Council passed the strictest, most effective sanctions on Iran in history.

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Putting the pressure on Iran

Under President Obama's leadership, Hillary worked with Congress and the European Union to build on these multilateral sanctions and cut Iran off from the world's economic and financial system.

"One by one, we persuaded energy-hungry consumers of Iranian oil like India and South Korea to cut back. Soon, Iran's tankers sat rusting in port. Its economy was collapsing."

The new measures were effective because they were global. The international campaign was so robust that Iran was no longer able to play one country off of another. The Iranian government suddenly had no choice but to negotiate.

What does this all have to do with the Iran Deal?

Hillary's diplomatic success laid the foundation for the Obama administration's recent Iran Deal. The unprecedented international sanctions delivered a blow to Iran's economy, forced them to the negotiating table, and gave the U.S. the leverage they needed to reach the deal.

The deal is the administration's best path to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The deal will give the United States access to Iran's nuclear facilities and allow us to monitor every aspect of their nuclear program. If Iran violates the agreement, we'll have enough warning to respond decisively. As president, Hillary will vigorously enforce the deal and make it one part of a broader regional strategy to counter Iran's other malicious behavior.

Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - How Hillary Clinton Helped Enact the Toughest Sanctions in History On Iran Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/316828

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