The goal of the ongoing nuclear negotiations with the Iranian regime should be “to prevent — not delay — a nuclear Iran”, Pennsylvania lawmakers have declared.
Representatives Patrick Meehan, Charlie Dent and Jim Gerlach were among the legislators who released a joint statement declaring: “Iran lost its right to an independent nuclear program when it became the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, and any nuclear power facilities in Iran should be controlled and operated by international observers.”
“A nuclear Iran would set off an atomic arms race in the Middle East and further destabilize an already-dangerous region.”
Any deal reached between the international community and the Iranian regime at the November 24 deadline for negotiations should be brought to Congress, the statement said.
It added: “The objective of any agreement should be to prevent — not delay — a nuclear Iran. The Obama administration should not accept any agreement that allows Iran to enrich uranium or plutonium, and Congress should have a say in any prospective deal.”
The statement comes as House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce and Ranking Member Eliot Engel also urged the West not to allow Iran to achieve its aim of building a nuclear bomb.
Their statement released on Thursday said: “We believe that any final agreement between the P5+1 and Iran must foreclose any pathway for Iran to develop a nuclear weapons capability. It must include an effective, intrusive, and long-term verification mechanism that would give us ample warning of any attempt by Iran to break out. It must also require Iran to come clean on its past work to develop a bomb.”