Whereas Iran is a non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at Washington, London,
and Moscow July 1, 1968 (commonly referred to as the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty
), under which Iran is obligated, pursuant to
Article II of the Treaty, not to receive the transfer from any
transferor whatsoever of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices or
of control over such weapons or explosive devices directly, or indirectly; not
to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive
devices; and not to seek or receive any assistance in the manufacture of
nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices
;
Whereas Iran signed the Agreement Between Iran and the
International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in
Connection with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at
Vienna June 19, 1973 (commonly referred to as the Safeguards
Agreement
), which requires Iran to report the importation and use of
nuclear material, to declare nuclear facilities, and to accept safeguards on
nuclear materials and activities to ensure that such materials and activities
are not diverted to any military purpose and are used for peaceful purposes and
activities;
Whereas Iran signed the Protocol Additional to the
Agreement Between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the
Application of Safeguards in Connection with the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at Vienna on December 18, 2003 (commonly
referred to as the Additional Protocol
);
Whereas the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
reported in November 2003 that Iran had been developing an undeclared nuclear
enrichment program for 18 years and had covertly imported nuclear material and
equipment, carried out over 110 unreported experiments to produce uranium
metal, separated plutonium, and concealed many other aspects of its nuclear
facilities and activities;
Whereas the Government of Iran informed the Director
General of the IAEA on November 10, 2003, of its decision to suspend
enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, and stated that the suspension
would cover all activities at the Natanz enrichment facility, the production of
all feed material for enrichment, and the importation of any enrichment-related
items;
Whereas, in a Note Verbale dated December 29, 2003, the
Government of Iran specified the scope of suspension of its enrichment and
reprocessing activities, which the IAEA was invited to verify, including the
suspension of the operation or testing or any centrifuges, either with or
without nuclear material, at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz, the
suspension of further introduction of nuclear material into any centrifuges,
the suspension of the installation of new centrifuges at the Pilot Fuel
Enrichment Plant and the installation of centrifuges at the Fuel Enrichment
Plant at Natanz, and, to the extent practicable, the withdrawal of nuclear
material from any centrifuge enrichment facility;
Whereas, on February 24, 2004, the Government of Iran
informed the IAEA of its decision to expand the scope and clarify the nature of
its decision to suspend to the furthest extent possible the assembly and
testing of centrifuges and the domestic manufacture of centrifuge components,
including those related to existing contracts, informed the IAEA that any
components that are manufactured under existing contracts that cannot be
suspended will be stored and placed under IAEA seal, invited the IAEA to verify
these measures, and confirmed that the suspension of enrichment activities
applied to all facilities in Iran;
Whereas, in November 2004, the Governments of the United
Kingdom, France, and Germany entered into an agreement with Iran on Iran's
nuclear program (commonly referred to as the Paris Agreement
),
securing a formal commitment from the Government of Iran to voluntarily suspend
uranium enrichment operations in exchange for discussions on economic,
technological, political, and security issues;
Whereas the Department of State has reported for a decade
on Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism and has declared in its most recent
Country Reports on Terrorism that Iran remained the most active state
sponsor of terrorism in 2004
;
Whereas President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressed,
in an October 26, 2005, speech, his hope for a world without
America
and his desire to wipe Israel off the map
and
has subsequently denied the existence of the holocaust;
Whereas Article XII.C of the Statute of the IAEA requires
the IAEA Board of Governors to report the noncompliance of any member of the
IAEA with its IAEA safeguards obligations to all members and to the Security
Council and General Assembly of the United Nations;
Whereas Article III.B–4 of the Statute of the IAEA
specifies that if in connection with the activities of the Agency there
should arise questions that are within the competence of the Security Council,
the Agency shall notify the Security Council, as the organ bearing the main
responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and
security
;
Whereas, on September 24, 2005, the IAEA Board of
Governors adopted a resolution finding that Iran's many failures and breaches
of its obligations to comply with the Safeguards Agreement constitute
noncompliance in the context of Article XII.C of the Statute of the IAEA and
that matters concerning Iran’s nuclear program have given rise to questions
that are within the competence of the Security Council as the organ bearing the
primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and
security;
Whereas, on January 3, 2006, the Government of Iran
announced that it planned to restart its nuclear research efforts, nullifying
the Paris Agreement;
Whereas, in January 2006, Iranian officials, in the
presence of IAEA inspectors, began to remove IAEA seals from the enrichment
facility in Natanz, Iran;
Whereas Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom Jack Straw
warned Iranian officials that they were pushing their luck
by
removing the United Nations seals that were placed on the Natanz facility by
the IAEA 2 years earlier;
Whereas President of France Jacques Chirac said that the
Governments of Iran and North Korea risk making a serious error
by pursuing nuclear activities in defiance of international agreements;
Whereas Foreign Minister of Germany Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said that the Government of Iran had crossed lines which it
knew would not remain without consequences
;
Whereas Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated,
It is obvious that if Iran cannot be brought to live up to its
international obligations, in fact, the IAEA Statute would indicate that Iran
would have to be referred to the U.N. Security Council.
;
Whereas President Ahmadinejad stated, The Iranian
government and nation has no fear of the Western ballyhoo and will continue its
nuclear programs with decisiveness and wisdom.
; and
Whereas the United States has joined with the Governments
of Britain, France, and Germany in calling for a meeting of the IAEA Board of
Governors to discuss Iran's non-compliance with its IAEA safeguards
obligations: Now, therefore, be it
That Congress—
(1)condemns the many
failures of the Government of Iran to comply faithfully with its nuclear
nonproliferation obligations, including its obligations under the Safeguards
Agreement (as reported by the Director General of the IAEA to the IAEA Board of
Governors since 2003), its suspension commitments under the Paris Agreement,
and prior commitments to the EU–3 to suspend all enrichment- and
reprocessing-related activities;
(2)commends the
efforts of the Governments of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom to seek a
meaningful and credible suspension of Iran's enrichment- and
reprocessing-related activities and to find a diplomatic means to address the
noncompliance of the Government of Iran with its obligations, requirements, and
commitments related to nuclear non-proliferation;
(3)strongly urges
the IAEA Board of Governors, at its special meeting on February 2, 2006, to
order that Iran’s noncompliance with its safeguards obligations be reported to
the United Nations Security Council; and
(4)calls on all
members of the United Nations Security Council, in particular the Russian
Federation and the People's Republic of China, to act expeditiously to consider
any report of Iran’s noncompliance in fulfillment of the mandate of the
Security Council to respond to and deal with situations bearing on the
maintenance of international peace and security.