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Monday, October 20, 2014

On Iran: Congress, Please Step Aside

On Iran: Congress, Please Step Aside

10/20/14
Navid Hassibi
Congress, Nonproliferation, Iran, United States

Congress must work to be part of the solution when it comes to an Iran nuclear deal, not the problem.

While Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and High Representative Catherine Ashton gathered last week to kick-start a new round of negotiations between the so-called P5+1 and Iran in efforts to meet a looming November 24 deadline to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement, one particular actor has been implicitly threatening to sabotage the entire process—the U.S. Congress. Considering Congress’s dismal approval ratings, and polls indicating that a large majority of Americans favor making a nuclear deal with Iran, Congress is hardly representing the majority of the American people on the issue of a nuclear deal with Iran and is towing a tough line seemingly intent on derailing any prospective breakthrough on the nuclear issue.
Earlier this month, over 350 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed and sent a letter to Secretary Kerry expressing concern over Iran’s missed deadline for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) investigation into prior possible military dimensions (PMD) to Iran’s nuclear program. Essentially, the letter asserts that information on PMD is necessary to assess Iran’s current and future nuclear activity, which, as duly noted by Paul Pillar in the National Interest, is an assertion that lacks logic and is an issue likely being pursued by congressional opponents of a nuclear agreement, precisely because it will be a “deal killer”.
Read full articlehttp://nationalinterest.org/feature/iran-congress-please-step-aside-11497
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