Senators: Give Congress Role in US-Iran Deal
Tensions are high as the U.S. pushes ahead with plans for a nuclear deal with Iran.
The Obama administration and U.S. allies are offering to end sanctions if the Islamic Republic agrees to forgo the means to make nuclear weapons.
But two leading U.S. senators have called for the Obama administration not to ignore Congress in its pursuit of a nuclear weapons agreement with Iran.
Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., outlined the conditions some lawmakers believe are essential to get a good and verifiable agreement with Iran. There have been concerns on Capitol Hill that the administration would press to conclude a deal by a November 24 deadline.
Menendez and Kirk issued a statement Wednesday insisting that "a good deal will dismantle, not just stall, Iran's illicit nuclear program and prevent Iran from ever becoming a threshold nuclear weapons state."
"This will require stringent limits on nuclear-related research, development and procurement, coming clean on all possible military dimensions issues and a robust inspection and verification regime for decades to prevent Iran from breaking-out or covertly sneaking out," the statement specified.
The senators continued by cautioning, "If a potential deal does not achieve these goals, we will work with our colleagues in Congress to act decisively, as we have in the past."
Last month, The Atlantic published an article by Jeffrey Goldberg, citing high administration sources who boasted that the Obama White House and State Department kept Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from acting militarily to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Netanyahu warned the world this week that it is in the interests of many nations, not just Israel, to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons technology.
"Netanyahu has said as prime minister over and over again that Israel will not allow Iran to go nuclear," CBN News Sr. Political Editor John Waage said. "You have to take him at his word."
"How they accomplish that without the bunker busting bombs they need when Iran has hidden all these weapons deep underground, under mountains -- it's not going to be an easy proposition, and it is going to be disruptive for the world," he continued.
"But the longer that waits, the more difficulty the world is going to face later on," Waage warned.
The deadline for negotiations is in 10 days, but officials are considering an extension.
Also this week, Iranian leader Ayatollah Khameinei repeated the call for Israel's destruction, tweeting a detailed and chilling nine-point plan for eliminating the Jewish state.
