Jun 30 2015

Statement by Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain on Nuclear Negotiations with Iran

Contact: Kevin Bishop (864) 250-1417 or Lorcan Connick (202) 224-5972

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and John McCain (R-Arizona) released the following statement today on nuclear negotiations with Iran:

“Yesterday, an unnamed senior administration official told reporters that the United States would not insist upon access to Iranian military sites in nuclear negotiations with Iran ‘because the United States of America wouldn't allow anybody to get into every military site, so that's not appropriate.’

“With the Iranian nuclear negotiations in a critical phase, this statement should alarm us all. There is no place in this negotiation for moral equivalence. That thinking was wrong in the Cold War, and it is wrong today. Iran is not like any other nation, least of all the United States. Iran has a proven record of cheating on its nuclear program. And it continues to be the leading state sponsor or terrorism while expanding its malign activities in the Middle East, as evidenced in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Iran must be held to different, more rigorous standards.

“Preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon requires a complete and accurate accounting of Iranian’s nuclear program, including its possible military dimensions, as well as effective international monitoring of Iranian personnel, sites, equipment, and materials involved in its nuclear activities. Without access to this information, it would be impossible to monitor and verify a nuclear agreement with Iran. President Obama appeared to recognize this reality today when he said that ‘if the inspections regime is inadequate, then we’re not going to get a deal.’ The question is whether he will actually enforce this red line.”

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