J Street Director of Government Affairs Dylan Williams issued the following statement in support of the Iran sanctions legislation pending before Congress:
J Street commends the conferees for their timely agreement on the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 and urges its swift passage by Congress.
J Street believes that Iran obtaining nuclear weapons would pose a very serious threat to American and Israeli interests and to peace and stability in the Middle East and around the world. We therefore lobby for a combination of tough, targeted sanctions and diplomacy to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Expanding and strengthening U.S. sanctions at this critical moment will increase the considerable pressure which the Iranian regime is already experiencing under unprecedented multilateral sanctions. These sanctions have already compelled Iran’s leaders to negotiate with the P5+1 concerning their nuclear program, and even to propose concessions in the context of those negotiations. Equipping the President with additional tools which he may apply and reserve as needed to coerce and reward Iranian compliance with its international nuclear obligations enhances the prospects for a permanent, diplomatic resolution to concerns over its nuclear program.
J Street also applauds the bill’s provisions sanctioning human rights abusers in the Iranian and Syrian regimes, whose deplorable acts against their own people merit global condemnation.