As President Barack Obama and his aides attempt to sell the framework deal on Iran’s nuclear program to members of Congress, and negotiators prepare for talks aimed at securing a more comprehensive deal with Tehran by June 30, foreign policy experts and nuclear scientists continue to herald the agreement as a “vitally important step forward” for non-proliferation and international security.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA) between Iran and the P5+1 nations, announced in Switzerland last week, “comprehensively addresses the key routes by which Iran could acquire material for nuclear weapons” and “reduces the likelihood of destabilizing nuclear weapons competition in the Middle East,” according to a joint statement released Monday by a group of 30 leading nuclear non-proliferation specialists, primarily from the United States.
“The framework agreement announced by the P5+1 and Iran is—from a nuclear nonproliferation and security standpoint—a vitally important step forward,” the statement reads. “When implemented, it will put in place an effective, verifiable, enforceable, long-term plan to guard against the possibility of a new nuclear-armed state in the Middle East.”
Its signatories, who include former United Nations Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering and executive director of the Arms Control Association Daryl Kimball, urged negotiators and policymakers to “promptly finalize the remaining technical details.”
Members of the Iran Project, a non-governmental entity dedicated to improving the relationship between the U.S. and Iranian governments, echoed that call in a separate statement also issued Monday.
Acknowledging that “important, difficult, and ambiguous issues still remain,” the Iran Project said the JCPA achieved key U.S. objectives including a reduction and then a limit on Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium and “broad and sweeping inspections.”
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