Talk to Iran

Floor Speech

Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, for much of the past decade, Iran's nuclear weapons development program has been a top national security concern for the United States. An Iran armed with nuclear weapons, capable of threatening Israel and other regional states, would touch off a nuclear arms race in the world's most volatile region.

For this reason, I have pressed for ever-increasing sanctions to isolate Iran from the global economy and have supported a policy that leaves all options on the table, including military force. The stakes are too high to risk any miscalculation of our resolve by Iran's leaders.

In pushing for ever more punitive sanctions, I have held out the hope that increased economic pressure might force Iran to give up its nuclear weapons ambition and rejoin the community of nations. Now we are at a moment in the standoff with Tehran that will test that assumption.

In repeated statements since his election as Iran's new President in June, Hassan Rouhani expressed interest in exploring a negotiated end to the sanctions in exchange for walking back its nuclear program. While the first Geneva meeting did not lead to a breakthrough on an interim deal, the parties reportedly came close and will be reconvening today for a second round.

Some have called on the Senate to continue work on a new round of sanctions that was passed by the House with my support earlier this year. Advocates of this approach say that sanctions brought us to this point, and increased pressure during the negotiations will improve the likelihood of success at the bargaining table.

I disagree.

President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry have asked for more time to test Iran's willingness to enter into a tough and verifiable agreement, and I think we should give it to them.

I am pleased to see reports that there appears to be a bipartisan agreement in the Senate that we will hold off for now. We will know soon enough if the Iranian regime is serious about a new direction in its nuclear program and in its relationship with the West. If it is not, there will be ample opportunity to tighten the stranglehold on Iran's economy, and further sanctions will have my full support.

Some have warned that any relaxation of sanctions in an interim deal risks unraveling the whole sanctions regime. This is not an illusory concern, and for this reason, any partial lifting of the freeze on Iranian assets must be quickly reversible if the Iranians balk on a final deal; but the absence of an interim deal is also problematic if it means another 6 months of Iranian enrichment. The Iranians must be made to understand that, if they walk away or cheat, the sanctions will be tightened to the point of strangulation--and the international community must be prepared to make good on that threat.

I have no illusions about the character of the Iranian regime; nor do I trust it. I do not believe that we can look into Rouhani's eyes and see the truth, let alone his soul. Even if Rouhani were serious about his intentions, there is no guarantee that Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, would bless any agreement that forces Iran to verifiably foreswear the development of the bomb.

Ultimately, this is not about trust. It is not about making concessions to Iran or awarding the mullahs for thwarting the will of the international community for many years. It is about seizing the opportunity to see whether we can end Iran's nuclear weapons program without resorting to military action; and if we cannot, no doubt it will remain that the United States made every effort to resolve this grave threat diplomatically.

No negotiation is without risk, and the Iranians' track record is cause for great skepticism. The administration must not accept a bad deal, but neither should it be prevented from testing whether it can obtain a good deal that advances our security interests and those of our allies.

Yitzhak Rabin, the former Israeli Prime Minister who signed the Oslo Accords two decades ago, once noted:

You make peace with your enemies, not the Queen of Holland.

I agree and urge us to give diplomacy a chance.

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