Coats: IAEA Report Confirms Seriousness of Iran Threat

Delay in Unilateral Sanctions Unjustified


INDIANAPOLIS (June 1, 2010) – An International Atomic Energy Agency report released yesterday clearly justifies further stronger measures to bring Iran into compliance with its obligations, with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions regarding Iran’s nuclear program, and with IAEA demands.


“The Obama Administration has been quick to see this report as justification for the new sanctions resolution pending before the Security Council,” said Dan Coats, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate. “But Iran’s dangerous misbehavior — now again confirmed by the IAEA inspectors — requires far more than that.”


Saying the latest draft UNSC resolution – the sixth such resolution in four years, if adopted – will not be a serious obstacle to Iran, Coats said, “Virtually no one – no individual and no country and not the IAEA – could reasonably argue that Iran’s demonstrated progress toward possessing nuclear weapons has been seriously obstructed by the past five UNSC resolutions. This next one will be no more effective.”


In the meantime, Congressional Democrats have said they want to delay action on our own tougher unilateral Iran sanctions legislation until after the UN Security Council has time to act, and even until after the European Union meets to discuss the issue later in June.


Coats added, “In the face of clear and mounting danger from Iran, such delay is unjustified. As this new IAEA report confirms, this is a serious moment. It is time to take serious action, and to demonstrate to others just how determined we are to confront this serious threat.”


Dan Coats is the co-author of a series of reports commissioned by the Bipartisan Policy Center on the Iranian threat. The next report in the series will be released later this month.


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