House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) is blasting the Obama administration for “whitewashing” information on a potentially nuclear Iran because the revelations could damage the controversial Iran deal.
On Tuesday, December 15, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors will vote on a resolution, delivered by the P5+1 that, if approved, will close the investigation into possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program and past nuclear work.
Royce weighed in on this troublesome news, suggesting that passing this resolution will further “demonstrate to Iran that there are no consequences for its continued obstruction and aggression”:
I sincerely hope this report is false. The IAEA has confirmed Iran lied about its secret work to build a nuclear weapon, and key questions remain unanswered. How close did the regime get to assembling a nuclear bomb? What happened to all the materials, research and expertise Iran acquired?
Just this week, we learned Iran carried out another test on a ballistic missile – the delivery vehicle for a nuclear warhead – in violation of at least two U.N. resolutions. Rushing to close this investigation into Iran’s past work, with a resolution that Congress and the American people have not seen, will demonstrate to Iran that there are no consequences for its continued obstruction and aggression.
Vital U.S. national security interests are at risk. The Obama administration must confront Iran’s dangerous acts and lead our allies and partners in pressing to get the full details about its past nuclear work – not whitewash it.
Dr. Olli Heinonen, who served as the former deputy director general of the IAEA as well as the head of its Department of Safeguards, published analysis for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) this week in which he explains that the IAEA also “has not been able to determine the full picture of Iran’s efforts” and suggests that numerous “gaps in the IAEA’s information complicate its ability to effectively monitor Iran’s nuclear activities.”
Additionally, Heinonen serves as a member of the Iran Task Force, which also issued a paper this month summarizing key findings from the IAEA report ,and explaining in detail why closing the investigation into Iran’s possible military dimensions (PMDs) would undermine the long-term verification of the nuclear deal.
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