US President Barack Obama
Photo: Reuters
Congressmen call out against nuclear Iran
In letter to President Obama, representatives offer sanctions to be imposed on Iran if talks fail
WASHINGTON – A group of US congressmen, including House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (Democrat), have sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
In Friday's letter, initiated by Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard L. Berman, the congressmen recommend prioritizing the Iranian threat in talks with Russia and China.
Op-Ed
Alex Fishman
Tehran aims to create Gaza missile base that can cover whole of central Israel
They write, "We write in strong agreement with your firm position that Iran cannot be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon. We are distressed by the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report that Iran has already stockpiled enough low enriched uranium to generate one nuclear weapon."
In the coming days Obama is scheduled to form his policy towards Iran. The congressmen agree that the policy should include dialogue with the Islamic Republic, but "engagement must be serious and credible, and cannot be open-ended".
"Our goal should be to bring about Iran’s near-term suspension of uranium enrichment, and we should offer Iran meaningful incentives in order to achieve this goal," the letter states.
"But we cannot allow Iran to use diplomatic discussions as a cover for continuing to work on its nuclear program. Iran must verifiably suspend its uranium enrichment program within at most a few months of the initiation of discussions."
The congressmen warn that waiting until after Iran's elections in June could give Tehran six months in which to enrich more uranium and hoard it.
Should the dialogue come up empty-handed, the letter says, the US should apply a number of sanctions including the sanctioning of the banks of Iran as well as international banks that continue to do business with them, denying access to companies whose ships call on Iranian ports, and the sanctioning of insurance and energy companies that have dealings with Iran.
They also urge Obama to call on US allies to join the sanctions. "They should be prepared to prohibit Iranian banks from operating on their territory and to cease allowing Iran to conduct international financial transactions in Euros, pounds, and yen. Similarly, they should stop the practice of providing export credits to their companies seeking business in Iran," the congressmen explain.
