Rep. Grace Meng (D – N.Y.) announced her opposition to the nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in a press release today.

“I strongly believe the world could and should have a better deal than that set forth in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which I will therefore oppose.

While I will continue to study the finer points of the deal, they will not be dispositive for me. I believe the inspections procedures set forth are flawed – leading nuclear experts assert that, pursuant to these procedures, inspectors would not necessarily know whether Iran is manufacturing uranium components for a nuclear weapon. This is unacceptable. Furthermore, I am deeply concerned that almost all of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure would remain intact; this leads me to believe Iran would simply resume its pursuit of a nuclear weapon at the conclusion of the deal in a decade’s time. Finally, the immediate sanctions relief provided Iran in the deal would incentivize the funding of terrorism and lessen Iran’s interest in restraining its nuclear ambitions over the long term.

I commend President Obama and Secretary Kerry for their efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, but the deal before us now is simply too dangerous for the American people. I have every confidence a better deal can be realized.”

Meng serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and its Subcommittees on the Middle East and North Africa, and Asia and the Pacific.

Earlier this week, another Democratic representative, Juan Vargas (D – Calif.) announced his opposition to the deal.

Yesterday, the Institute for Science and International Security issued a paper raising questions about the verifiability of the JCPOA.

[Photo: UNC – CFC – USFK / Flickr ]