WASHINGTON: Hundreds of US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State John Kerry to lean harder on Iran in talks over its nuclear programme in a letter released yesterday after Israel warned Washington not to go easy on Tehran.
Three hundred and fifty-four members — four-fifths — of the US House of Representatives signed the letter sent to Kerry on Wednesday night, expressing concerns that an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme might not require sufficiently strict inspections of its nuclear facilities.
The UN nuclear watchdog said on September 5 that Iran had failed to address concerns about suspected atomic bomb research by an agreed deadline.
With a November deadline fast approaching for Tehran and world powers to reach a deal on the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme, 354 of the House’s 435 members warned that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been frustrated in its efforts to glean more information about the “potential military dimensions” of Iran’s atomic efforts.
“We believe that Iran’s willingness to fully reveal all aspects of its nuclear programme is a fundamental test of Iran’s intention to uphold a comprehensive agreement,” wrote the lawmakers including House Speaker John Boehner and several Democrats.
“We remain deeply concerned with Iran’s refusal to fully cooperate with the (IAEA),” they added.
“The only reasonable conclusion for its stonewalling of international investigators is that Tehran does indeed have much to hide.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Barack Obama on Wednesday that he must make sure any final nuclear deal with Iran does not leave it at the “threshold” of being able to develop nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu has been attempting to shift the global spotlight away from Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria and back to Iran, warning that a nuclear-armed Tehran would pose a far greater threat than the militant Islamists. Yesterday, Netanyahu voiced doubts that his talks with Obama would lead to a tougher US line.
“Both of us want to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But I say that is not enough. You want to prevent it from (being able to) develop a nuclear weapon in a short term, of weeks or months. What is called breakout time,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 television.
Asked whether he was “encouraged” about the issue of preventing Iran from achieving break-out capability after meeting Obama, Netanyahu answered: “I cannot say that. I can only say that I expressed the things important to Israel and Israel’s security.”
Although Israel backs Obama’s efforts to forge a coalition to confront Islamic State fighters, some Israelis fear world powers could go easy on Shia Iran’s nuclear program so it will help in the fight against the Sunni Islamists.
Agencies
