Sen. Marshall says Iran has 'to be able to defend themselves'

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) on Wednesday evening suggested he is open to Iran retaining some non-nuclear weapons in the peace deal it is negotiating with the United States.The senator’s take on the matter echoes President Donald Trump’s position. The president said earlier Wednesday he could be on board with Iran having some ballistic missiles in a final peace deal, after a 60-day interim agreement was reached Sunday and formalized Wednesday evening, bringing the Iran war to a halt and reopening the Strait of Hormuz. The short-term memorandum of understanding appears aimed at offering negotiators from both countries time to hash out details on Iran’s nuclear program, which is the key focal point of the conflict.When pressed on Iran having ballistic missiles during a CNN interview, Marshall said, ”You know, I’m hesitating.”

“I sort of don’t want them to have long-distance missiles. I don’t want them to have nuclear-armed missiles,” said Marshall. “I would prefer they didn’t, but I don’t think that’s the key issue here. I think that they have to be able to defend themselves, and I just kind of come back to the big picture here, is that the Middle East countries like this agreement. I think Iran needs to be able to defend itself. Otherwise, we turn this into a forever war.”