WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) announced he will work with his colleagues to condition funding for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) in the next appropriations bill and put a hold on all ODNI-affiliated nominations due to the office’s failure to submit to Congress multiple assessments of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, as required by law.

ODNI is in violation of the law, having missed two Section 5593 report deadlines and failing to notify Congress of significant enrichment activity by Iran.

Graham authored two sections of public law that require the ODNI:

1. To report to Congress every 180 days about Iran’s uranium enrichment activities, nuclear weapons development activities, delivery vehicle development activities, and associated engineering and research activities, among other items. (Public Law 117-263, Section 5593(e)(1)(A) of the Iran Nuclear Weapons Capability and Terrorism Monitoring Act of 2022)
2. Notify Congress within 48 hours if ODNI assesses Iran has engaged in significant enrichment activity. (Public Law 118-31, Section 7413 Monitoring Enrichment of Uranium-235)

Senator Graham wrote to Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, “I am formally notifying you that I plan to hold all ODNI affiliated nominations and will work with my colleagues to condition ODNI headquarters funding in the next appropriations bill upon submission of these assessments. As the author of these two provisions designed to protect the national security interests of the United States, I find it unconscionable that the requirements to submit the assessments under Section 5593 and Section 7413 are being ignored.”

Graham also noted that in the latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it is estimated that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium grew to 313.3 pounds and is only a small technical step away from the weapons-grade purity uranium needed to create a nuclear weapon. This is extremely concerning, as according to the IAEA it would only require approximately 92.6 pounds of weapons-grade purity uranium to create a nuclear weapon.

The full text of the letter can be found HERE.