Inhofe: Existing Sanctions On Iran Must Continue
Jim Inhofe: Existing sanctions on Iran must continue
BY U.S. SEN. JIM INHOFE • Published: December 1, 2013
President Obama’s rush to reach a nuclear agreement has undermined years of bipartisan action to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. At a time when harsh sanctions have inflicted unprecedented pressure on the Iranian economy, Obama’s agreement with President Hassan Rouhani has weakened our leverage and legitimized a brutal state sponsor of terrorism.
In this agreement, the West tacitly recognizes Iran’s right to enrich uranium, allows it to keep its nearly 19,000 centrifuges spinning, suspends sanctions and unlocks roughly $7 billion in assets, all in exchange for a brief pause in Iranian nuclear development activities. There is little to show for this reckless gamble. It won’t stop Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear bomb, which our intelligence once reported could be achieved by 2015, and it leaves the world less safe.
Not surprisingly, the agreement also has alarming shortfalls for a deal negotiated with a regime that has repeatedly deceived us and concealed its nuclear program for over two decades. It fails to require any commitments from Iran on nuclear development after the interim agreement expires in six months. It fails to require Iran to dismantle any of its enrichment capability, such as the destruction of existing centrifuges or its heavy-water plutonium reactor. And it fails to address two vital components of Iran’s burgeoning nuclear weapons pursuit: weaponization and ballistic missile development. Over the years, Iran’s enrichment program has far outpaced the other two programs, and now this deal permits Iran the time and money to bring the rest up to speed.