Toomey faults McGinty for supporting Iran nuclear deal

Nearly a year since the U.S. and five other nations reached a deal with Iran to limit that country’s nuclear weapons program, it’s becoming a flash point in the battle for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.

Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey has been one of the deal’s most vocal opponents, arguing it could result in Iran funneling money to terrorists as the country recoups roughly $100 billion in assets.

At a press conference Tuesday in Philadelphia, Toomey called on his opponent — Democrat Katie McGinty — to reject the deal in light of Iranian ballistic missile tests conducted earlier this year in defiance of a U.N. resolution banning such tests.

“She supported [the Iran deal] from the outset, despite the many warnings that many of us provided,  and she supports it today, despite the additional flaws and the egregiously bad behavior by Iran,” Toomey said of McGinty. 

The Democrat didn’t actually take a stance until two months after the agreement was announced in July. She came out in favor in September, not long before Senate Democrats successfully quashed efforts by Republican leaders to disapprove the deal within a 60-day review period. 

Toomey also challenged McGinty to “support efforts to hold Iran accountable [and] support the enactment of meaningful sanctions in response to the ballistic missile tests.”

In an email, a campaign spokesman said McGinty believes the deal is “the best path to truly prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon” and pointed to a statement she issued in January — before the most recent round of Iranian missile tests — expressing support for sanctions against the country for previous violations of the U.N. resolution.