Last November, the United States, with other leading world powers, reached an interim accord with Iran to curb that country’s nuclear program in return for modest relief from sanctions that have hurt Iranian civilians.
In his State of the Union speech, President Obama warned: “The sanctions that we put in place helped make this opportunity possible. But let me be clear: If this Congress sends me a new sanctions bill now that threatens to derail these talks, I will veto it.”
Yet Indiana’s Senators, Joe Donnelly and Dan Coats, are sponsoring just such a bill, the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act (S.1881). It demands that Iran totally give up enriching uranium—a requirement that most arms control experts consider unnecessary and that Iranians reject as violating Iran’s right to civilian nuclear energy under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
The bill also says that if Israel attacks Iran, the United States should provide military support, in effect delegating to a foreign leader the decision to take the U.S. to war.
Senators Donnelly and Coats received five-figure campaign contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other hawkish groups. But J Street, the pro-Israel, pro-peace organization, strongly opposes this bill.
With a common adversary in al Qaeda, the United States and Iran need not be eternal enemies.
As President Obama said, “We must give diplomacy a chance to resolve one of the leading security challenges of our time without the risks of war.”
Sources
“A Step, if Modest, Toward Slowing Iran’s Weapons Capability” (NYT)
“Obama’s 2014 State of the Union address: Full text” (CBS News)
“Analysis of Faults in the Menendez-Kirk Iran Sanctions Bill (S. 1881)” (The Center For Arms Control and Non-Proliferation)
“Revealing Money’s Influence On Politics: Pro-Israel” (MapLight)
