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House panel to hold hearing on ‘understanding military options’ in Iran
The House Armed Services Committee has scheduled a hearing this week on potential military options in Iran, at the same time a third round of nuclear talks with Iran are concluding.
The hearing, titled “Addressing the Iranian Nuclear Challenge: Understanding the Military Options,” was announced Monday morning, though it does not yet have a list of witnesses.
Republicans in Congress, in addition to presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, have repeatedly criticized President Obama’s policies toward Iran, accusing him of not doing enough to stop the country from seeking nuclear weapons.
Romney said during the Republican presidential debates that Iran would not get a nuclear weapon if he won the election but would if Obama is reelected. And members of Congress have said that the nuclear negotiations are not worth pursuing because Iran does not have an interest in curbing its nuclear activity.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, while the United States and its allies say Iran is working on a nuclear weapon.
Obama has also attempted to dissuade Israel from launching its own attack on Iran’s nuclear program, pressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch a strike when Netanyahu visited Washington in March.
If the nuclear talks, which resumed in Moscow on Monday, do not go well, it could provide an opportunity for Romney and Republicans to attack Obama for pushing a diplomatic solution in Iran.
