WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, of Butler opposes the agreement by the United States, Iran and world powers to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

That agreement was announced Tuesday.

In a statement, Kelly said, “Based on everything we currently know, the Obama administration’s deal with Iran represents a dangerous mistake of potentially historic proportions. It fails to achieve the paramount mission of permanently ending Iran’s nuclear ambitions while instead leaving the Islamic Republic newly emboldened, wrongly legitimized, and ominously free to continue its deadly sponsorship of international terrorism.

“The Iranians exploited the situation by extracting concession after concession and are now left celebrating a deal that rewards their government with tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief — much of which is guaranteed to be funneled to terrorist groups and causes throughout the world. At the same time, the agreement excludes any requirements by Iran to allow thorough American inspections, release American hostages, or even curb its well-known human rights abuses against its own people.

“We must do everything in our power to defeat this agreement.”

Also in reaction to the agreement, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., in a statement said, “Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is critical to our national security and that of our partners in the region, especially Israel.

“That’s why I have consistently sponsored and supported sanctions against Iran, which brought the regime to the table in the first place ...

“I appreciate the hard work that Secretary Kerry and his team put into these negotiations. Over the coming days, I will be conducting a thorough review of the agreement to evaluate whether it protects our national security interests.”

Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa, said in a statement, “I look forward to closely examining this nuclear agreement during the upcoming 60 day Congressional review period.

“Preliminarily, I have deep concerns that this deal will provide hundreds of billions of dollars to an untrustworthy Iranian regime’s support for terrorism, while ushering in a nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East.”