After meeting with Flynn, Corker welcomes 'new day' on Iran with U.S. 'push back'


              FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington during the committee's confirmation hearing for UN Ambassador-designate, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. When President Donald Trump paused the nation's refugee program with the stroke of a pen, top congressional leaders of his own party were left to find out the same way the general public did: from the media as Trump signed the order. Corker told reporters Monday, Jan. 30: "I guess one of you guys probably told me about it. Thank you for that." Lawmakers complained that they were left in the dark as details of the plan were worked out. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, file photo, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington during the committee's confirmation hearing for UN Ambassador-designate, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. When President Donald Trump paused the nation's refugee program with the stroke of a pen, top congressional leaders of his own party were left to find out the same way the general public did: from the media as Trump signed the order. Corker told reporters Monday, Jan. 30: "I guess one of you guys probably told me about it. Thank you for that." Lawmakers complained that they were left in the dark as details of the plan were worked out. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

NASHVILLE - Declaring it's a "new day" for U.S. relations with Iran, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., is predicting the United State will engage in a "coordinated, multi-faceted effort to push back" against the country's most recent ballistic missile test and "other destabilizing actions" in the Middle East.

During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" today, Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also reiterated his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal and discussed what he said was the previous Obama administration's failure to respond to previous Iranian ballistic missile tests and other violations.

On Wednesday, Corker met with President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor General Mike Flynn to discuss how Congress and the White House can work together to address vital foreign policy and national security issues facing the country, including Iran.

"[The Trump administration] has always thought the Iran deal, as I have, was a bad deal," said Corker. "I think what has happened is they have come into office and have had the ability now to see the intelligence, and they're probably even more upset about the lack of action over the last six or seven months."

A former Chattanooga mayor, Corker also said that "without being too pejorative, the former administration should have taken action [and] did not take action. And I think now [the Trump administration] is even more anxious to make sure that we push back against what Iran has been doing."

He charged that until now "we've been turning our head on ballistic missile testing, on conventional arms sales, on heavy water overages. We have. And we do need to push back.

"When they have their naval vessels threatening ours, they need to be aware that there's a new day," the senator added. "We are not putting up with the things they have been doing in the region."

"I think you are going to see pushback not only against the violations on the nuclear agreement, I think there is going to be, as there should have been all along, push back against what they are doing in Yemen, what they're doing in Syria, what they are doing in other places," Corker said.

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