The Capitol. Photo: Wiki Commons.

JNS.org – A group of nearly 200 retired generals and admirals sent an open letter to Congress urging U.S. lawmakers to reject the Iran nuclear deal.

“The agreement will enable Iran to become far more dangerous, render the Mideast still more unstable and introduce new threats to American interests as well as our allies,” states the letter, which was first reported by the Washington Post.

The letter, addressed to Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, is a response to one sent last week that was signed by 36 retired senior military officers who supported the nuclear deal.

The group of former high-ranking military officials include William G. “Jerry” Boykin, undersecretary of defense for intelligence under president George W. Bush; John Poindexter, national security advisor under president Ronald Reagan; and retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, who was vice commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe.

“What I don’t like about this is, the number one leading radical Islamic group in the world is the Iranians,” McInerney told the Washington Post. “They are purveyors of radical Islam throughout the region and throughout the world. And we are going to enable them to get nuclear weapons. Why would we do that?”