Two Views on the Threaten Iran Resolution

First a letter from Congress Members Gary L. Ackerman and Mike Pence:

Take a Stand Against Iranian Bullying: Co-Sponsor H. Con. Res. 362 May 28, 2008

Dear Colleague:

We write to encourage you to join us as sponsors of H.Con.Res.362, a resolution expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital national security interests of the United States by Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and regional hegemony. As the Chairman and Ranking Minority Member of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, we have been monitoring with growing concern Iran's manifest efforts to destabilize and reshape the Middle East, to block efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and, worst of all, to acquire the means to produce enriched uranium, the key to producing nuclear weapons. Iran is backing and arming militias and terrorists fighting the United States and our allies in both Iraq and Afghanistan; it is the proud patron of both the Hamas take-over in Gaza and the Hezbollah insurrection against the Lebanese government; it is the major funding source for numerous terrorist groups and, increasingly, its fellow state-sponsor of terrorism, Syria; it is supporting Islamist sectarian groups in places like Kuwait, Bahrain and Yemen; and, it is radically reorienting regional security calculations (e.g., the sudden interest among Sunni Arabs in commercial nuclear power). In various public statements, Iranian leaders proudly take ownership of these policies and promise more of the same. Meeting the threat posed by Iran is an urgent requirement for the United States, and a challenge that will require us to work closely with the international community, and especially with partners in the Middle East. Though the stakes are high and time is short, the resolution is explicit in stating that meeting the challenge from Iran must be done using all appropriate political, diplomatic and economic levers, and that "nothing in this resolution shall be construed as an authorization of the use of force against Iran." The threat from Iran is real and growing, and Congress needs to sound the alarm to ensure that today's efforts by Iran at subversion and proliferation do not, tomorrow, become the seeds of new and more terrible conflict in the Middle East. Please contact Dalis Blumenfeld (dalis.blumenfeld@mail.house.gov) at the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia at 202-225-3345 if you'd like to be added as a sponsor.

Sincerely, s/ Gary L. Ackerman s/ Mike Pence Chairman Ranking Minority Member House Subcommittee on the House Subcommittee on the Middle East & South Asia Middle East & South Asia

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Second, a response from Professor Muhammad Sahimi of the University of Southern California:

Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons

There is not a shred evidence that Iran has a nuclear weaponization program. The International Atomic Energy Agency has certified time and again that it has found no evidence for a nuclear weapon program.

regional hegemony.

Regional hegemony with a 3rd-rate army, an obsolete airforce that belongs to museums, a navy that is no match for the Y.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf? How is this "hegemony" going to be achieved?

Iran's manifest efforts to destabilize and reshape the Middle East,

Iran provided crucial support for the U.S. when it invaded and overthrew the Talibans. Then, Iran played a fundamental role in helping the National Unity Government of President Hamid Karzai to emergy in 2001. Iran has done more for rebuilding of Afghanistan than any other country, with the exception of the U.S.

The Shi'ite groups in Iraq that are now part of the gobvernment spent years in exile in Iran. They were funded, trained, and armed by the Iranian government. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his predecesor, Ebrahim al-Jafari, both have excellent relations with Iran. In recent months, when forces of Muqtada al Sadr wanted to rebel against the government, it was Iran that prevented that.

So, how is Iran trying to destabilize that region?

the means to produce enriched uranium, the key to producing nuclear weapons.

The enriched uranium that Iran has been producing is at 3.8%. To make a nuclear weapon, the uranium must be enriched to 90%. Although the technology is the same for both, one cannot simply convert the present technology to bomb making. In addition, all of Iran's enrichment facilities are safeguarded by the IAEA. There is no way to divert the facilities to bomb making, so long as they are safeguarded.

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