Republican Says Iran Deal Should Halt Uranium Enrichment
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Version 0 of 1. WASHINGTON — Laying down a marker, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Tuesday that a follow-on nuclear accord with Iran should require that Tehran stop enriching uranium. “The key issue is whether a final agreement would allow Iran to manufacture nuclear fuel,” the chairman, Ed Royce of California, said during a hearing that included testimony by Secretary of State John Kerry. “It simply can’t be trusted with enrichment technology, because verification efforts can never be foolproof.” Comments by Mr. Royce and other panel members effectively shifted the terms of the debate from the interim accord that the United States and five other world powers negotiated last month, which involved freezing much of Iran’s nuclear program, to the more comprehensive one that international negotiators now plan to pursue. The interim agreement is for six months, but it can be renewed for an additional six months by mutual consent. The goal is to buy time so that a more sweeping agreement can be negotiated. The interim agreement also outlines some of the provisions of such a follow-on agreement, saying that Iran could continue to enrich uranium “under mutually agreed parameters” and under “enhanced monitoring.” Mr. Kerry said to the panel that he did not know if a comprehensive agreement could be achieved, but that the United States had an obligation to try. And, seeking to defuse the congressional push for additional sanctions, he said that imposing new penalties at this point would poison the atmosphere for such talks. “We have an obligation to give these negotiations an opportunity to succeed,” Mr. Kerry said. Trying to reassure the lawmakers, Mr. Kerry said that the scope of any future Iranian enrichment activity under a comprehensive agreement would need to be “mutually agreed” and would be linked to legitimate civilian needs. But the six-month interim agreement, Mr. Kerry asserted, was also in the best interest of the United States because it halted important elements of Iran’s program. “The national security of the United States is stronger under this first-step agreement than it was before,” said Mr. Kerry, who asserted that Israel and Persian Gulf Arab states were also more secure. Mr. Kerry promised that the Obama administration would go to Congress for tougher sanctions if the effort to negotiate a comprehensive nuclear accord with Iran faltered. “We are committed to asking you for additional sanctions if we fail,” Mr. Kerry said. “We will need them.” |