An overwhelming bipartisan majority in the U.S. House of Representatives is calling on the Trump Administration to extend the United Nations arms embargo on Iran.
The embargo is set to expire in October of this year.
A group of 387 members of Congress — including Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Representative Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) – sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo encouraging diplomacy to prevent the expiration of the embargo and U.N. travel restrictions on Iranians engaged in proliferation activities. They said that permitting Iran to buy and sell weapons would pose a “grave risk” to security around the world.
“Time and time again, Iran has shown that they cannot be trusted,” Fitzpatrick said. “Their efforts to destabilize the region and the world will only increase if we do not extend the U.N. embargo. Iran must be prohibited from buying and selling weapons, and moreover, we must prevent Iran from increasing its influence in the region. I am proud to lead a bipartisan coalition on this urgent issue, and I am encouraged to see so many of my colleagues from both sides of the aisle add their voice in support of this critical national security matter.”
More than three-quarters of the House signed the letter.
“The U.N. arms embargo will be the first provision of the Iran nuclear deal to expire,” Engel said. “This letter, supported overwhelmingly by both parties in the House, represents an imperative to reauthorize this provision—not through snapback or going it alone, but through a careful diplomatic campaign. The Trump Administration has promised a better deal, and it falls to the administration to solve this crisis, not make it worse. Iran continues to be a danger to the United States, our interests, and our allies. We need a realistic and practical strategy to prevent Iran from becoming a greater menace.”