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Senate hawks urge caution ahead of Iran nuclear talks
A trio of Senate hawks is throwing up stop signs as six world powers resume nuclear talks with Iran Wednesday in Baghdad.
Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) penned an op-ed in Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal that warned Iran might be more interested in stalling sanctions against its nuclear program than actually making the changes the international community is asking for.
“We must not allow these talks to become a movie we've seen before, in which success is defined less by the outcome of negotiations than by their mere perpetuation,” the senators wrote. “The Iranian regime's long record of deceit and defiance should make us extremely cautious about its willingness to engage in good-faith diplomacy.”
The talks are focused on Iran’s 20 percent enriched uranium, which is just below weapons grade. Iran has also offered increased access to international nuclear inspectors to its military site, to which Tehran has previously blocked access.
But the senators say that focusing on Iran’s highest-level uranium is not sufficient, because that has only been developed in the last two years.
“Focusing only on these recent manifestations of Iran's nuclear program, without also addressing older and broader enrichment and proliferation-sensitive activities, would effectively reward the Iranians for their escalation and allow them to move back the goal posts,” they wrote.
They also urged the Obama administration to keep up economic sanctions against Iran, which the administration has signaled it will do. The Senate passed new sanctions against Iran on Monday.
The senators concluded by returning to President Obama’s statements that all options must be on the table to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
“The U.S. must be prepared, if necessary, to use military force to stop Iran from getting a nuclear-weapons capability,” they wrote.
