In a big surprise announcement, which is really no surprise at all, Tehran announced a new generation of equipment to enrich uranium. A loophole in the recent talks literally allows them to do it which is a move the Israelis claimed is further proof the regime seeks nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, it’s not really a big surprise. At least not for anyone who has been paying the slightest bit of attention, and apparently, other than Israel, not many have. This is exactly the same type of game Iran has been playing for well over 4 decades now.
Finally, however, President Obama is facing mounting bipartisan pressure over the issue of sanctions on Iran. One of the president’s top democratic allies is leading the charge for Congress to pass new sanctions legislation, despite the president’s pleas to stand down. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said that the “Iranians are showing their true intentions with their latest announcement. “If you’re talking about producing more advanced centrifuges that are only used to enrich uranium at a quicker rate … the only purposes of that and the only reason you won’t give us access to (a military research facility) is because you’re really not thinking about nuclear power for domestic energy — you’re thinking about nuclear power for nuclear weapons,” he said.
Menendez was reacting after Iran’s nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi said late Thursday that the country is building a new generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment. He said the system still needs further tests before the centrifuges can be mass-produced. Salehi’s comments appeared aimed at countering hard-liner criticism by showing the nuclear program is moving ahead and has not been halted by the accord. At the same time it shows the Iranian government is walking a fine line under the terms of the deal. Iran agreed in the accord not to bring new centrifuges into operation during the six month period that it covered. But the deal does not stop it from developing centrifuges that are still in the testing phase.
On Friday, the Israeli Embassy in Washington released a statement reiterating their call for Iran to halt enrichment and remove the infrastructure behind it. “Installing additional advanced centrifuges would be further indication that Iran intends to develop a nuclear bomb – – and to speed up the process of achieving it,” the statement said.
Menendez said he, like the president, wants to test the opportunity for diplomacy. “The difference is that we want to be ready should that diplomacy not succeed,” the senator said. “It’s getting Congress showing a strong hand with Iranians at the same time that the administration is seeking negotiation with them. I think that that’s the best of all worlds.”
Obama would not appear to agree. At his year-end conference, the president tried to push back on those advocating new legislation by insisting the tentative deal with Iran has teeth. “Precisely because there are verification provisions in place, we will have more insight into Iran’s nuclear program over the next six months than we have previously,” Obama said. “We’ll know if they are violating the terms of the agreement. They’re not allowed to accelerate their stockpile of enriched uranium.”
Sponsors of the legislation in the Senate, which would only trigger the new sanctions if Iran violates the interim deal or lets it expire without a long-term accord, say the legislation would do just the opposite by putting added pressure on Iran to rein in its nuclear program. When Congress returns to work next month, there could be new urgency for legislation. A total of 47 co-sponsors are now behind the legislation introduced by Menendez and Senator Mark Kirk, R-Ill. Supporters are hoping to reach a 67-member, veto-proof majority. “If we want diplomacy to succeed and we want a world without Iranian nuclear weapons, we need to make clear to Iran’s leaders that bad faith in negotiations will be met with the toughest economic sanctions in history,” he said.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Friday that all parties will be resuming negotiations after the holidays. She added, “It’s important to remember what’s at stake if Iran does not choose the path this diplomatic process lays out for them, which is an opportunity to address all of the international community’s concerns about its nuclear program in a peaceful way. That remains our goal, and we are firmly committed to ensuring Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon.” I’m sure that forceful statement has every leader in Tehran shaking in their boots.
I personally feel the State Department needs to do just exactly that by showing Iran that we’re ready if they decide not to comply with the accord and its implied end result. Iran has absolutely no reason for testing these new centrifuges if there is no intention to further their nuclear weapons program, (PERIOD, as our president so fondly uses).
My opinion is the president is like a sheep who hasn’t been sheared in many years, much less even had a trimming around the eyes. If the president needs insight into Iran’s intentions, I think they just cooperated and gave him just exactly that. If there’s no intention on Iran’s part to further the nuclear weapons program, why do they feel it necessary to develop a newer version of what we’ve told them to stop doing which only results in them being able to do it even faster? Shouldn’t we be talking something along the lines that they should cease the ‘new testing’ and in exchange, we’ll cease preparing ourselves for tougher sanctions. Obama on the other hand feels that legislation at this stage could imperil the hard-fought Geneva deal. Really Mr. President?; they’ve already placed Geneva in peril.
