Congressman Brad Sherman Statement on Israel’s Justified Attack on Iranian Nuclear Capabilities

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Brad Sherman (CA-32), a Senior Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee for 29 years, released the following statement on Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear capabilities:

"Under the circumstances, what Israel has done is understandable and justified. 

Earlier today, for the first time in 20 years, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board declared that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations under the Safeguards Agreement that Iran itself signed. Iran was extremely close to several nuclear bombs. Israel could not wait while Iran pretended to negotiate in good faith while racing towards a bomb.

The second wave has already begun and we expect many days and perhaps weeks of additional action. Substantial damage has been done to Iran’s nuclear program. However, the status of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is yet to be known.

It’s regrettable that Iran’s decades of violation of the non proliferation treaty which it signed has led us to a point where this is necessary. While the U.S. pulled out of the 2014 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement, Iran has been bound by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement it signed decades ago and which the IAEA determined it violated.

Israel did not take this step lightly. There will be retaliation from Iran, and likely also from the Houthis and Hezbollah. Many Israeli civilians will be killed.  Israel took this action because it believed it had no other choice. 

Israel could not wait until Iran had a stockpile of nuclear weapons ready to be launched."

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