Sens. Lugar and Nunn express support for Iran nuclear agreement

Former U.S. Sens. Richard Lugar (R–IN) and Sam Nunn (D–GA) recently encouraged Congress to give its support to the proposed Iran nuclear agreement, as they see this as the best opportunity to stop Iran from creating a bomb without starting another war in the Middle East.

“Although there are no absolute guarantees, nor can there be in diplomatic accords, our bottom line is that the agreement makes it far less likely that the Iranians will acquire a nuclear weapon over the next 15 years,” the two senators wrote. “Our own conviction is that this agreement represents our best chance to stop an Iranian bomb without another war in the Middle East.”

The senators cited their previous experience in negotiating arms control agreements.

“We have heard critics suggest that Iran would have agreed to entirely dismantle its nuclear enrichment facilities and stop all activities related to its civil nuclear program if only the U.S. had been tougher in negotiations,” the senators wrote. “But had the U.S. taken such an approach in the early 1990s, we would not have encouraged and helped Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus safely accelerate the destruction of their weapons and materials of mass destruction.”

The two senators published an op-ed in Politico earlier this week.