Muncie Star Press - Coats: Congress Must Be Included on Iran

Op-Ed

By Dan Coats

The Obama Administration's recent announcement that it has yet again extended negotiations with Iran over its illegal nuclear programs is confirmation of another foreign policy failure under this president. I have been concerned about the direction of these negotiations since they began.

Even as the United States becomes more deeply mired in the swamp of Middle East conflicts, the Obama Administration is guided by no coherent regional strategy. Challenges to vital American interests in this region come directly from Iran, the world's largest state-sponsor of terrorism. Not only is President Obama ignoring the clear and present danger posed by these Iranian ambitions, he is abetting those ambitions by surrendering key positions first and then pursuing negotiations that confirm our weakness.

For eight years, U.S. policy -- backed by six United Nations (U.N.) Security Council resolutions -- insisted that Iran abandon its program to enrich uranium because of the mortal danger posed by an Iran armed with nuclear weapons. That position was abandoned virtually at the start of the negotiations with Iran.

Although the subjects of uranium enrichment, weapons programs, inspections regimes and nuclear power are highly complex, they all lead now to a very simple question: How much ability will Iran have to enrich uranium, and how many centrifuges will it be permitted to operate in reaching that goal?

When the U.N. Security Council passed its first resolution demanding that Iran cease enriching uranium, Iran had 800 centrifuges doing that illegal work. Today, after two years of direct negotiations on the issue, Iran has 19,000. Iran's "Supreme Leader" recently announced that he wants a major industrial scale of enrichment requiring 180,000 centrifuges.

It is difficult to see how these lengthy negotiations have made any real progress on the core issue. Any negotiated agreement that gives Iran the ability to retain so much enrichment capability is completely unacceptable and should be rejected by the United States Congress.

However, during these negotiations, the Obama Administration has ignored not only the U.N. Security Council, but Congress as well. Congress has long taken the lead in constructing the sanctions regimes that have pressured Iran to come to the negotiating table. Now the will of Congress has been ignored, and the people's elected representatives are left largely uninformed about the progress of ongoing negotiations or what they are intended to achieve.

The administration has made it clear that it intends to circumvent Congressional scrutiny of any deal because of widespread, bipartisan opposition. This would be a serious mistake.

Any settlement of issues regarding Iran's nuclear program is of paramount importance to the security of the American people and the world. Any proposed agreement requires thorough review and deliberation by Congress. An agreement on an issue of such vast significance requires a bipartisan, bicameral consensus and mutual support and agreement by both the executive and legislative branches of our government.

This is the most significant national security issue of our age, and it is being mishandled in order to secure a "legacy" for the Obama Administration. It is important to reassert a vigorous congressional role before our country is burdened with a bad agreement that does little to prevent a nuclear Iran.

In the meantime, another extension of the misguided, mishandled negotiations means the Iranians can continue their dangerous nuclear activities, secure additional sanctions relief according to the terms of the interim agreement and buy more time to undermine the international sanctions regime. I am working with my Senate colleagues to break this dangerous cycle.

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