Members of the Florida congressional delegation focused on the threat of a nuclear Iran this week, even as the Monday deadline looms for a deal with that Middle Eastern nation.
From her perch as chairwoman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., held a hearing on Examining What a Nuclear Iran Deal Means for Global Security on Thursday and warned Iran cant be trusted.
We are now just a few days away from the Iran nuclear deadline, said Ros-Lehtinen. And the P5+1 appears poised to accept a weak deal with a regime that cannot be trusted. Despite approximately $14 billion in direct sanctions relief, as well as incalculable indirect benefits to the Iranian economy and the nuclear program, Iran has repeatedly stated that it will never stop enriching uranium or take one step back in its research and development. Despite a four-month extension of talks and allowing Iran access to an additional $700 million of its blocked currency each month, Irans Supreme Leader two weeks ago called for the destruction of our greatest ally in the Middle East, the democratic Jewish state of Israel. Iran recently claimed its ballistic missiles are capable of razing Israeli cities and American military bases in the region to the ground. Iran has called for Palestinian incitement against Israel, the result of which can be seen in the tragic murders two days ago of five Israelis, three of whom were U.S. citizens, in a Jerusalem synagogue as they were praying.
Bashing the Iranian leadership for using stall tactics while continuing to advance Irans nuclear weapons program behind the scenes," Ros-Lehtinen tore into the Obama administrationss handling of the nuclear deal. Our leadership in the White House falls for it, Ros-Lehtinen insisted.
The administration turns a blind eye to Irans support of terrorism, its constant threats against the United States and our allies, and its failure to cooperate even during this negotiation period, Ros-Lehtinen continued. It ignores every lesson we thought we learned when North Korea delayed its way into a nuclear weapon. President Obama even sends secret letters to the Supreme Leader, naively hoping to appeal to the rational side of a man who has proven himself to be anything but. The Iranians have made clear that no matter what a final deal contains, they will not stop enrichment and will not allow access to sites like Parchin and who knows how many other covert sites.
Noting, due to the covert nature of Irans activities, any deal with Iran could not be adequately verified, Ros-Lehtinen called for more concessions from that nation.
Iran must be completely transparent about its current and past programs, including its weaponization efforts, and accept snap inspections anywhere, anytime, Ros-Lehtinen said. "But experience and the track record tells us that Iran will not do so. It is impossible to verify Irans nuclear program because, as the Defense Science Board report has said, the capability to detect Irans undeclared or covert nuclear sites is either inadequate or does not exist.
Ros-Lehtinen also defended the use of sanctions on Iran, advising the Obama administration to keep them in place.
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the ranking Democrat on the subcommittee, also insisted any deal with Iran end nuclear threats and called on increased verification on ensuring its nuclear program end.
I dont think any of us are under the illusion that a satisfactory, comprehensive deal will be reached by Monday, Deutch said. But let me be clear -- any deal must cut off all of Irans pathways to a nuclear weapon and this specifically includes the Arak reactor. A deal must dismantle Irans centrifuge program to prevent Iran from becoming a threshold nuclear state, create robust verification and monitoring mechanisms to prevent undetectable breakout, force Iran to come clean on its past nuclear activities including possible military dimensions and cover a long enough duration that the regime wont simply wait it out.
Over in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, also has Iran on his mind. This week, Rubio and U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., led more than 40 other Republican senators in sending a letter to the White House on Iran.
We have watched with concern as your administration has hinted at creative solutions that abandon the clear requirements of U.N. Security Council Resolutions, and shifted course away from essential requirements Congress has stressed in order to meet Irans unreasonable demands, the senators wrote. Your negotiators appear to have disregarded clear expressions from the Senate emphasizing the need for a multidecade agreement requiring Iran to fully suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities, to dismantle its illicit nuclear infrastructure, and completely disclose its past work on nuclear weaponization.
Given Irans growing nuclear and non-nuclear threats, we therefore urge your administration to firmly insist that Iran meet the requirements that Congress and members of your administration have previously outlined, the senators continued. The negative consequences of a bad deal to the United States are immense, and will impact the security and safety of Americans and send a message of U.S. weakness to our allies and partners in the Middle East and beyond, including Israel.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
