During a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing last week, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) spoke about a potential US-Iran nuclear deal.
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00:00for testifying today, your families and friends that are here with you, your willingness to serve,
00:04and Mr. Rayburn, thank you for meeting with me earlier this week. It was a really productive
00:09conversation. So I'm going to turn to you, Mr. Rayburn, and talk a little bit about
00:15Iran negotiations. While you've not been involved, I know, in the ongoing negotiations between the
00:22U.S. and Iran, the outcome of these talks will have a profound impact on political dynamics in
00:27the Middle East, and on your role, if confirmed. So as you mentioned in our conversation earlier
00:33this week, while Iran is at its weakest point in decades, we need to ensure it doesn't rebound.
00:38So I'd like to ask you about what you think a U.S.-Iran deal can and should look like, and how
00:44can we best take advantage of this historic low point for Iranian power in the region, and in
00:50addition to focusing on Iran's nuclear program, should a potential deal with Iran also address
00:55Iran's proxy support for terrorists and the use of ballistic missiles?
01:01Senator, thank you for the question, and I also appreciated the time that you gave to meet
01:07with you to discuss these issues the other day. I think you're absolutely right, and the
01:13President, Secretary Rubio, Special Envoy Wyckoff, have been quite clear that if there is to be a deal,
01:20as they put it out, their position, and again, as you said, I'm not part of the negotiations. I'm outside
01:26the government, so I can just observe, but it seems their position is clear that if there is to be an
01:33agreement, it needs to include a total dismantlement, as the President put it, of the Iranians' nuclear
01:39program heretofore. That includes the facilities, that's the centrifuges, and so on, and there are many
01:45technical ways that that can be accomplished. And also, of course, both the President and others in
01:53the administration have mentioned that, yes, there will be a need for the Iranian regime to forego,
01:59to give up its sponsorship of its militant proxy terrorist network that has so destabilized the
02:05region. I think the President has made clear, without that, October 7th, in his view, would never
02:11have happened. And so, in order to prevent the threat of a future October 7th type of event,
02:17that that needs to happen. I think also there's a general consensus on the need to, on the need for
02:23the Iranian ballistic missile and UAV programs, which are being proliferated now, for example,
02:29and being used in Ukraine to great detriment, for those to be restricted as well.
02:36Thank you. I'm going to stay on this topic a little bit and talk about the Abraham Accords
02:40expansion. Last week, it was reported that the United States is dropping its demand that Saudi
02:46Arabia normalize ties with Israel as a condition for progress on civil nuclear cooperation. And as
02:52you noted in your opening statement, normalizing relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel has been
02:58a bipartisan effort for years, and that, you know, would transform the Middle East. So, as a leading
03:03champion of the Abraham Accords, I cannot push back on this news strongly enough. Needlessly,
03:08giving up the greatest leverage we have at this critical moment, I think would be a momentous
03:14mistake. So, Mr. Rayburn, do you think it'd be wise to drop the demand for normalization from Saudi
03:19Arabia as a part of a deal to access civilian nuclear capabilities?
03:26Senator, thank you for the question. I'm not, I don't have visibility on the negotiations that have
03:33gone on, the engagement that's going on concerning normalization, normalization process. To my mind,
03:40just as a longtime analyst, observer of the region, I think normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel
03:48is going to happen. It's bound to happen because it makes so much sense. The logic is so strong for both
03:54sides, for the surrounding region, and for the United States. So, I think I have confidence that there can be a
04:01diplomatic path forward to making that happen, and not in the not-too-distant future.
04:05Thank you. And I'm going to stay with you on this question, and I'll go very quickly, because we
04:10have to prevent the rise of extremism in Syria. We know that there are detention camps in northeastern
04:17Syria. I'm going to go very quickly. We have to repatriate people from the camps of these third-party
04:23nationals. This must happen. It has to happen thoughtfully. So, how can the U.S. work with Syria and other
04:29countries to thoughtfully repatriate the refugees in a way that promotes reintegration, ensures the youngest
04:35and most vulnerable in this group are protected, not to be recruited from future threats, particularly the
04:42Al-Hul and Al-Roj detention camps?
04:46Senator, thanks for raising that. You are right. In a lot of ways, the people that are housed there are the
04:55remnants of the ISIS caliphate, and if it's not addressed, it constitutes sort of a ticking time
05:01bomb. It's something that has to be addressed. You're right. The de-radicalization has to be part
05:06of that. I think also, there really has to be a redoubling, and again, I'm not involved in this, so I'm not trying to
05:13say this kind of diplomacy isn't happening right now. There really does need to be a ramping up, I think,
05:18of our diplomatic efforts to get third countries to accept the repatriation of their nationals
05:24back into those countries, so that they're not there in northeastern Syria, just sort of waiting
05:32as a danger that could happen.
05:34Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Senator Scott, I think you and I are the only ones here,
05:41so I will yield to you, my friend. Thank you, Senator Rosen. Well, first off, congratulations.