A large bloc of Congressional Republicans is urging US President Donald Trump to maintain a hardline stance on Iran, calling in an open letter signed by more than 200 lawmakers for the complete dismantling of Iran's uranium enrichment technology.
All Republican senators except one, along with 177 GOP representatives, signed the letter warning against any agreement resembling the 2015 nuclear deal brokered under former President Barack Obama.
That accord, they argued, merely delayed Iran’s nuclear ambitions while allowing it to continue enrichment activities under international oversight.
“The United States cannot afford another deal that gives Iran room to maneuver,” the lawmakers wrote. “The regime must be stripped of all enrichment capacity — even for peaceful energy purposes.”
Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican who did not endorse the letter led by Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Representative August Pfluger of Texas.
Citing what they described as Iran’s expanding nuclear program, the Republicans expressed skepticism over the possibility of verifying any future agreement that permits enrichment.
“The scale of Iran’s nuclear activity today makes verification of any such deal impossible,” the letter said.
The message comes as the fourth round of US-Iran talks concluded without a breakthrough, and Trump is on a diplomatic tour of Iran's Arab neighbors.
The signatories praised Trump’s earlier decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and his administration’s “maximum pressure” policy, which reimposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran.
“You have rightly drawn a red line against any deal that permits uranium enrichment,” they wrote. “We stand ready to support your administration with whatever tools are necessary to protect American national security.”
Trump has said that the goal of the negotiations is to achieve "full dismantlement" of Tehran's nuclear program. However, Tehran insists that its enrichment program is not open to negotiation, but it is ready to cap the level of enrichment.
