The Iran nuclear agreement gave people "false comfort" while allowing the Iranians a "pathway to a nuclear weapon," and President Donald Trump did the right thing by saying the United States would pull out of it, Rep. Liz Cheney said Thursday.
"We are in a situation now where companies across Europe are going to have to choose, in many instances, whether they want to do business with the United States or with Iran," the Wyoming Republican told Fox News' "Fox and Friends."
"But we have got to absolutely make sure that we are committed, particularly as we watch Iran continue its activities across the Middle East, continue to threaten Israel [and] continue ballistic missile development."
Cheney and others met with National Security Adviser John Bolton to discuss the issue, and she said Thursday they talked about the fact that it is "very important" to pull out of the Obama-era agreement.
"The Iranians have got to understand that those are the kinds of behaviors that won't be accepted by the United States," Cheney said.
"I have been very pleased to see President Trump and national security adviser John Bolton take a lead on insuring that we do everything we can to prevent Iranians have obtaining nuclear weapons."
Their actions are "hugely different" than those taken by former President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, said Cheney.
"Barack Obama paid $1.5 billion, U.S. taxpayer money, paid the Iranians to get them to enter into the nuclear agreement, and then had you Secretary of State John Kerry traveling the world basically acting as though he were the head of the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, encouraging countries around the globe to invest in Iran," said Cheney.
Iran's economy, she added, is "run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps," which is involved in every aspect of business in the country," and providing resources is helping to facilitate their activities and the country's nuclear program.
"We have made the right turn here, and I'm optimistic that we will continue to be very tough with Iranians," said Cheney.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.