Nuclear Agreement with Iran

Floor Speech

Mr. President, as I speak, Secretary Kerry is on his way to Geneva to try to conclude nuclear negotiations with the Iranian regime.

To Secretary Kerry: I urge you to suspend negotiations until we clear up two matters.

No. 1, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini said on state-run television in Iran, yesterday and the day before, ``All economic, financial and banking sanctions, implemented either by the United Nations Security Council, the United States Congress or the administration, must be lifted immediately when the deal is signed.'' Secretary Kerry, would you please tell the Ayatollah that is unacceptable and repudiate that statement before you negotiate any further.

The Iranian Parliament, several days ago, passed draft legislation prohibiting the international community from having access to Iranian military facilities to determine the state of the Iranian nuclear program. Secretary Kerry, please suspend negotiations until the Iranian Government repudiates this concept. The P5+1 should be firm in these areas: There will never be a deal signed with Iran that does not allow for anytime, anywhere inspections of nuclear sites, particularly military sites. How can you negotiate any further until they repudiate the actions they have taken?

Please tell me--and I will send you a letter--what to tell my constituents who are very worried about this. I am being overwhelmed by questions: Does the Iranian Parliament action represent the position of the Iranian Government? My answer would be yes. Nothing happens in Iran unless the Ayatollah wants it to happen.

So Secretary Kerry and the P5+1, please tell the Iranians that the action of the Parliament--the statement they have made that we will not be allowed to inspect military facilities as part of a deal--is a nonstarter and walk away until they repudiate that. Please send a message to the Ayatollah through the negotiators that we will not lift sanctions until there is full compliance, until the IAEA has a chance to tell us about the possible military dimensions of their nuclear program. How can you lift sanctions and go forward and give them money until you know exactly what they have been up to in the past?

Secretary Kerry, now is a time for you and President Obama to send a clear message to the Iranians: repudiate these two statements or we will not negotiate any further.

This is the most important decision any President of the United States will make, and we are about to go into negotiations in the final stages with two thought processes on the table coming from the highest level of the Iranian Government: You will not be allowed to inspect military facilities, and we will demand immediate sanctions relief before there is verification.

Those two statements coming from the Iranian leadership must be repudiated--and repudiated now. Walk away, Secretary Kerry, until they repudiate these statements. No more negotiations until we understand, is this a red line for the Iranians. Because if this is their red line, I will now ask you in public: Secretary Kerry, are these positions red lines for the Iranian Government? Have they now adopted a red line that you will never be allowed to inspect military facilities as part of an inspection regime to determine the past development of nuclear weapons in Iran? Secondly, is this now a red line by the Ayatollah; that they will never agree to a deal that doesn't allow for immediate sanctions relief?

I need to know the answer to that question. Are these red lines? And if they are red lines, walk away. And if they are not red lines, have these statements repudiated because this is the most important decision the world will ever make.

God help us all if we enter into a deal with this regime that is not sound, with every i dotted and every t crossed, because the Iranians have been cheating and lying about their nuclear ambitions for well over a decade, and at the end of the day, you can't trust the Iranians.

I urge as strongly as possible that the P5+1 suspend negotiations until the Iranians set the record straight and repudiate these statements about denying us access to military facilities and requiring immediate sanctions relief as part of any deal.

I yield the floor.

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