WASHINGTON, D.C — Three hundred ninety five (395) Members of the House of Representatives wrote President Obama to describe what they believe must be included in any final agreement between the United States and Iran regarding its pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability.
A key section of the letter read: “Because we believe any agreement should include stringent transparency measures to guarantee that Iran cannot develop an undetectable nuclear weapons breakout capability, Tehran must fully and verifiably implement its Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and implement the Additional Protocol, answer pening IAEA questkions, and comply with the transparency measures requested by the Director General of the IAEA, as well as with any additional verification and monitoring measures necessary to ensure Iran is abiding by the terms of any agreement. Such measures should include an agreement granting the IAEA necessary access to inspect all suspect sites, including military facilities, and providing an unfettered ability to interview Iranian scientists and personnel associated with Iran’s nuclear program.”
The letter was spearheaded by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and signed by 216 Republicans and 179 Democrats. Leader Cantor said the following about the letter:
“The Congress is a co-equal branch of government, and it is important that Members of Congress speak individually and as a body about important foreign policy matters facing the United States. It is hard to imagine a more dangerous threat to American national security than the one posed by Iran, its support for terrorism, its efforts to destabilize the Middle East, and its determined pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. I have profound concerns about the Administration’s Iran policy, including the interim deal — which allows Tehran to continue modernizing its centrifuges and has taken too much international pressure off Iran.
“I am proud to co-sign a letter to President Obama with Minority Whip Steny Hoyer and nearly 400 of our colleagues that puts the House on record about what we expect in any further deals with Iran. This letter represents a bipartisan consensus about the framework of such a deal, and about the extraordinary inspections and verification measures that must accompany any such deal. Iran must understand that Congress will be united behind additional sanctions and other measures if it does not meet these conditions and verifiably abandon its pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. In light of the dire nature of the threat, I believe that military force must remain on the table to prevent Iran from acquiring such a capability.
“Many members, including myself, have strong reservations about the conduct of nuclear diplomacy to this point, and are concerned about the lack of a broader strategy to confront Iran’s growing threats to regional stability. For negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program to be successful, they must be rooted in such a broader strategy. As this letter makes clear, we ignore the nature of the regime in Tehran, and its many threats to international peace and security, at our own peril.”
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Preceding provided by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
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