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Background: The Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons and Stop War through Diplomacy Act (H.R.4173)

Thursday, March 22, 2012 22:54
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(Before It's News)

On March 8, 2012, Rep. Barbara Lee introduced new legislation to support direct Iran negotiations, lift the "no contact policy," and prohibit funding for war with Iran.

On March 8, 2012, Rep. Barbara Lee and nine of her colleagues in the House introduced H.R.4173 - The Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons and Stop War through Diplomacy Act.

WHAT DOES H.R.4173 DO?

  1. Supports
    sustained, direct negotiations with Iran
    by establishing a U.S. diplomatic envoy to
    lead talks
  2. Lifts
    the “no contact policy”
    that blocks U.S. diplomats from
    communicating with Iranian counterparts
  3. Prohibits
    funding for war
    against Iran without Congressional authorization

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

To prevent war, resolve
the nuclear standoff, and effectively address human rights, we must eliminate
obstacles to a diplomatic breakthrough 

  • Under the current “no contact policy,” U.S.
    officials are barred from any contact with Iranian officials unless they obtain
    explicit permission from the Secretary of State.  

There have only
been two bilateral meetings between the U.S. and Iran since Obama took office

  • Those meetings never
    moved beyond the nuclear file to other critical areas like human rights.  To successfully resolve the standoff,
    diplomacy will need to be persistent, direct and sustained.  A U.S. envoy to direct such efforts can
    ensure we effectively uses all diplomatic tools at its disposal to achieve a
    solution.

Diplomacy is the
only solution for preventing a nuclear-armed Iran

  • Former
    Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair testified to Congress that “only
    an Iranian political decision to abandon a nuclear weapons objective would
    plausibly keep Iran from eventually producing nuclear weapons.”

 Iranian human
rights and democracy defenders have warned that war threats undermine their
cause

  • Akbar Ganji: “Even
    speaking about the possibility of a military attack on Iran makes things
    extremely difficult for human rights and pro-democracy activists in Iran.”
  • Shirin Ebadi: “Dictators
    actually like to be attacked by foreigners,” Ebadi said yesterday, “so using
    excuse of national security, they can put away their opposition.”

 Military leaders
agree: Iran war would be disastrous, a diplomatic solution is needed

  • Former CENTCOM
    Commander Admiral Fallon: “No one that I’m aware of [in the military]
    thinks that there’s any real positive outcome of a military strike or
    some kind of conflict.”
  • Former JCS Vice
    Chair General Cartwright: “You want to try to make sure and work hard to
    have an official channel that is really open for dialogue, so that the
    ambiguity at least can be addressed.”
  • Gen. Michael Haden (ret.), CIA Director under
    Bush: “When we talked about this in the government, the consensus was that
    [attacking Iran] would guarantee that which we are trying to prevent — an Iran
    that will spare nothing to build a nuclear weapon and that would build it in secret.”
  • Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “A military strike would only
    delay Iran’s nuclear program, while the regime’s resolve to build a weapon, if
    it so chooses, may only be hardened.”
  • Former JCS Chairman Admiral
    Mullen: “We haven’t had a connection with Iran since 1979. Even in the darkest days of the Cold
    War, we had links to the Soviet Union. We are not talking to Iran, so we
    don’t understand each other. If something happens, it’s virtually assured that we won’t get it
    right 

 The American
public supports diplomacy with Iran, not military strikes

  • 81% of Americans support direct U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the nuclear
    standoff (WaPo/ABC poll 3/10/12).
  • Only 24% of Americans support “a military
    strike,” versus 69% who support continued diplomatic efforts (World Public Opinion/PIPA poll 3/13/12).

Tell Your Member of Congress to cosponsor H.R.4173 

Read more at National Iranian American Council



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