House Majority Leader Eric Cantor was set to condemn President Barack Obama’s foreign policy in a major national security speech on Monday that warned of a "brutal" Iran becoming a nuclear power.
In the prepared remarks obtained by Politico that he was due to give at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Va., the Virginia Republican said that American allies fear U.S. enemies feel empowered under Obama’s leadership and that the nation’s status as a world power has vastly diminished.
"America’s friends worry we have lost our way, that we have lost the will to live up to our values or stand up to aggressors," Cantor was scheduled to say.
"They see a divided, inward-looking America that is focused on its weaknesses rather than its strengths, and they know this is an America that invites challenges and emboldens adversaries."
In the speech, Cantor spelled out "clear principles" for his own foreign policy initiatives, including American-Russian diplomacy, while singling out U.S. nuclear negotiations with Iran as a dangerous setback to U.S. peace-keeping efforts in the Middle East.
"I can imagine few more destabilizing moments in world history than Iran on the threshold of being a nuclear power," he said in the prepared remarks.
"Make no mistake: Iran is a brutal theocracy. Its leaders violently repress dissent at home and support conflict and chaos abroad. We should lay the groundwork now for additional sanctions in the event Iran violates the terms of the interim agreement."
Cantor has previously said that the six-month nuclear deal with Iran "bodes very ominously for the region and U.S. security." And he warned that it brings Iran "closer to becoming a nuclear power" and threatens U.S. relations with Israel.
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