The six-month interim deal made by the United States, five other world powers and Iran in Geneva last month gives International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors greater access to Iran's nuclear facilities and requires the Islamic Republic to halt its enrichment of higher grade uranium. But it allows Iran to continue enriching uranium up to 5 percent purity for generating nuclear power.
That level is well below 20 percent pure uranium which can be converted relatively easily into weapons-grade material. But many lawmakers worry any enrichment in Iran is too much. "It would have been better if Iran during the course of the negotiations would stop enriching. I don't think that would have been too much to ask Iran," said Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "It makes me question the sincerity of the Iranians," Engel told reporters after a classified House briefing with Wendy Sherman, the State Department's lead negotiator on Iran's nuclear program.
Representative Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican, said after the briefing that she suspects Iran would be able to continue to enrich even after a final deal. "Unfortunately I believe the Obama administration, from what we have heard today, may very well allow Iran to maintain the right to enrich," she said. "The only way we will ensure that Iran does not ultimately obtain a nuclear weapon will be if they dismantle the centrifuges and also relinquish the enriched uranium that they have now."
No comments:
Post a Comment