WILMINGTON, Del. — U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, issued on the following statement on this weekend's P5+1 agreement on Iran's nuclear program.
"While I welcome the progress made by the Administration and the international community in engaging with Iran to negotiate a possible end to its illicit nuclear program, I remain deeply concerned about the still-unspecified details of implementation and enforcement, as well as the interim agreement's lack of a requirement that Iran comes into compliance with mandatory U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding a suspension of all enrichment activities. Achieving a diplomatic solution that ends Iran’s efforts to achieve a nuclear weapons capability depends on the continued vigorous enforcement of current economic sanctions and retaining a credible threat of military force. The stakes are too high to take any options off the table.
"The interim agreement reached in Geneva this weekend was made possible because existing comprehensive sanctions successfully forced an economically crippled Iran to the negotiating table. Reducing these sanctions now may weaken our leverage to solidify a permanent agreement once this six-month interim period ends. It is essential to ensure the implementation of agreed-upon safeguards and inspections in order to strictly enforce the terms of this deal.
"We should pass additional sanctions to be enforced promptly if Iran violates the interim agreement or fails to reach a permanent deal, which is why I have committed to working with Senator Menendez and others to pass a new sanctions bill in December. The bill should include a conditional waiver for the Administration within this six-month window as it attempts to negotiate a final agreement that aims to dismantle Iran’s enrichment infrastructure.
"Over decades, the Iranian regime has earned the distrust of the United States, our vital ally Israel and the world community by supporting terrorism through its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, violating the rights of its citizens and conducting secret nuclear development programs in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Iran’s actions during this interim period must be subject to intrusive inspections and verification. Until Iran has verifiably terminated its illicit nuclear program, we should continue to enforce sanctions and make clear to Tehran that there will be harsh consequences for failure to comply with the deal."