To: The United States Senate

The U.S. Senate should give diplomacy with Iran a chance

The interim agreement with Iran gives the United States and our allies a chance to resolve the nuclear standoff with Iran without resorting to military action. The Senate should give negotiations the opportunity to succeed before voting on any additional sanctions or other efforts that would undermine diplomacy.

Why is this important?

Last November, the United States and our partners in the international community reached a breakthrough agreement with Iran that allows negotiations to begin that can remove from Iran the ability to covertly obtain a nuclear weapon without resorting to military action. 

The six-month deal provides unprecedented daily access to nuclear facilities in Iran, while halting or reversing important components of their current nuclear program. In exchange, the United States will provide limited and immediately revocable relief from some sanctions that leaves in place existing severe restrictions on their oil and banking industries. 

Some will argue that we cannot trust Iran — but we do not need to trust Iran to choose to give these negotiations a real chance. Any final agreement will provide the U.S. and our partners with unprecedented access to their nuclear program to prove, on a daily basis, that their intentions are purely benign.

If Iran walks away from the negotiating table in bad faith, then the Senate should debate new sanctions. But now, let’s give the Obama Administration and their partners the room to work out a peaceful resolution to this long-festering crisis before voting on any additional sanctions or other efforts that would undermine diplomacy.