Today, in response to the agreement reached over the weekend by the “P5+1” and Iranian regime, the following statement was issued by Nathan Diament, executive director for public policy of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America:
“The Orthodox Union is deeply concerned about the deal struck this weekend between the P5+1 and Iran. The agreement is, at best, a modest first step toward a further agreement that would eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons program. At worst, it has bought the Iranian regime time and resources to resuscitate their economy and develop dimensions of their weapons program notwithstanding the agreement’s stated restrictions.
Inasmuch as we have seen the Iranian leadership call for the destruction of Israel and aggressively pursue nuclear weapons technology in violation of many UN Security Council resolutions (while at the same time denying that very pursuit), we do not believe the Iranian commitments made in Geneva are trustworthy. We hope that the United States and other Western nations party to the agreement will intensely monitor Iran’s activities and will respond decisively to even the slightest breach of its terms.
The Orthodox Union supports any Congressional legislation that would address Iranian compliance violations and impose additional crippling sanctions in the event that the six-month allowance fails to reverse Iran’s progress toward a nuclear weapon.
We pray that the best intentions and hopes of those United States and Western officials who struck this deal are realized and that our skepticism and fears are misplaced. Nothing short of the lives of millions of innocents hang in the balance.”
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The Orthodox Union is the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization; the OU Advocacy Center, formerly the Institute for Public Affairs, is the non-partisan public policy arm of the OU and leads its advocacy efforts in Washington, DC and state capitals.