The International Atomic Energy Agency recently confirmed Iran violated the restrictions on stockpiling enriched uranium specified in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In response, three Republican senators sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging the administration to put increased pressure on Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran has stockpiled more than 300 kilograms of low-enriched uranium.
The senators urged Trump to follow two courses of action: To end civil-nuclear waivers and to invoke the snapback mechanism in United Nations Security Council resolution 2231. The resolution would restore international restrictions against Iranian uranium enrichment, plutonium-related heavy water work, and ballistic missile development.
The letter also praised Trump for re-imposing economic pressure on Iran and for calling the JCPOA ineffective.
“The JCPOA was built to enable Iranian cheating,” the letter said. “It disempowered the International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspection and reporting authorities to find violations, incentivized other parties to preserve the deal by ignoring whatever violations were found, and when necessary pressuring the Joint Commission to issue still-confidential side deals that redefined noncompliance as compliance, allowing Iran to keep more material than specified in the public version of the JCPOA.”
The letter was written by Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Marco Rubio (R-FL).