A Nuclear Armed Iran Poses an Intolerable Threat, Senator Says
Washington - A nuclear armed Iran would "pose an intolerable threat" to the Middle East and undermine global efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry says.
That is why the U.N. Security Council found it necessary June 9 to level its fourth round of sanctions ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/June/20100609145507ptellivremos6.579226e-02.html ) against Iran's nuclear program, and why the United States further expanded U.S. sanctions ( http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2010/June/20100616165341dmslahrellek0.107464.html ) on many of Iran's groups and individuals on June 16, Kerry said during a hearing June 22 on the sanctions. The European Union and Australia announced efforts June 17 to further strengthen measures against Iran in the wake of the Security Council decision.
"These steps to increase pressure are necessary not because we want to target Iran, but because Iran itself has decided to continue to defy the international community, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the U.N. Security Council," Kerry said.
Estimates indicate that Iran has approximately 2,400 kilograms of reactor-grade, low-enriched uranium in stocks at its Natanz enrichment facility, which is enough material for two nuclear weapons. And estimates are that Iran has begun producing small quantities of uranium to a concentration of about 20 percent, crossing a nuclear threshold that experts believe could lead to nuclear weapons production, Kerry said.
The primary purpose of the latest Security Council sanctions is to target Iranian military purchases and trade and financial transactions carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as banks and maritime companies.
Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the senior Republican on the committee, said that while it is difficult to know exactly where Iran's nuclear development program stands, it is clear that the regime in Tehran is not complying with international nonproliferation agreements and has stymied efforts to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its inspectors.
William Burns, the State Department's under secretary for political affairs, told senators that the June 9 Security Council decision imposes the most comprehensive international sanctions that the Tehran regime has faced to date, and aims to hold Iran accountable for its obligations.
The essential reason for so much international concern about Tehran's decision to pursue a nuclear weapons development program is the instability it creates in the Middle East and the threat it poses to the global economy and security, Burns testified.
"These risks are only reinforced by the wider actions of the Iranian leadership, particularly its long-standing support for terrorist groups, its opposition to Middle East peace, its repugnant rhetoric about Israel, the Holocaust and so much else, and its brutal repression of its own citizens," Burns said. "In the face of those challenges, American policy is straightforward."
Burns warned the senators that Iran's destabilizing actions in the region and beyond must be countered while efforts are made to advance broader interests in democracy, human rights and development across the Middle East. Over the past 18 months, the Obama administration has pursued a combination of "tough-minded diplomacy" that included engagement and pressure, and active security cooperation with partners in the Gulf and beyond, he added.
"We've sought to sharpen the choices before the Iranian leadership. We've sought to demonstrate what's possible if Iran meets its international obligations and adheres to the same responsibilities that apply to other nations," Burns said. "And we've sought to intensify the costs of continued defiance and to show Iran that pursuit of a nuclear weapons program will make it less secure, not more secure."
However, Burns said it was the Tehran regime's "intransigence" that left no other choice but to use restrictive economic and political pressure.
Congress is considering legislation that would impose even greater pressures on Iran and those who trade with it. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a June 21 statement ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2010/June/20100622141926SBlebahC0.2305065.html ) that President Obama will continue to work with Congress as it completes work on the bill.
Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey told senators that the efforts by the Obama administration on Iran work along two fronts. The first is governmental action that includes the United Nations and other governments and efforts to build on four Security Council resolutions to impose sanctions. Talks are already under way with other governments on robust actions to implement the latest Security Council sanctions, he added.
But possibly more important than those efforts are actions on the second front - the role of the private sector, Levey added.
"We have also taken public action and made an unprecedented effort to share the information that forms the basis of our actions with firms all over the world," Levey said. "We have made that evidence public."
"That information demonstrates that Iran engages in illicit nuclear and ballistic missile transactions, supports terrorist groups and that, in order to conduct those activities, it engages in financial deception to evade the controls of responsible businesses that have no desire to participate in illicit activity," he added.
