[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10014-10015]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      NUCLEAR AGREEMENT WITH IRAN

  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I now shift to a different threat we 
face.
  Time and again--time and time again--the Islamic Republic of Iran has 
lied to the international community. The latest evidence emerged in the 
June 2 publication by the United Nations Security Council of a scathing 
report on Iranian noncompliance with the Joint Plan of Action. Written 
by a diverse panel of international experts, the report catalogs a 
growing list of Iran's violations of multiple U.N. mandates. It 
deserves to be read widely by all those who care deeply, as I do, about 
the ongoing P5+1 negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
  The lesson to draw from the Security Council report is clear: If Iran 
continues to violate its current agreements with impunity, how can we 
expect that Tehran would adhere to a new deal to suspend its nuclear 
program? This is a matter of plain common sense.
  The specifics of the report paint a profoundly troubling picture. 
Iranian arms transfer activities have continued uninterrupted, despite 
the sanctions imposed by the unified international community. These 
arms have found their way into a number of regional conflicts, fuelling 
instability in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere. Hezbollah and Hamas--
Iran's perennial terrorist allies--continue to turn these weapons 
against Israel and our other allies in the region. Regional violence 
has been and continues to be Iran's export of choice.
  According to this report, not only does Iran illegally export weapons 
and oil, it has also imported prohibited materials and technology, 
circumventing sanctions. The Iranians have long maintained a robust 
illicit procurement infrastructure. They have accomplished this through 
intermediaries controlled by Iranian and pro-Iranian interests, often 
involving false documentation, shell corporations, and foreign 
nationals.
  For these and other reasons, our French allies have now declared that 
a rigorous inspection regime that includes military installations 
should be a prerequisite to any agreement. This should have been our 
position from the start.
  Additionally, the report describes violations of foreign travel 
restrictions of high-ranking Iranian Government officials. One 
particularly noteworthy violation is the case of Major General Qasem 
Soleimani, the commander of Iran's Special Forces Quds Force. Earlier 
this year, General Soleimani met with the Secretary General of 
Hezbollah in Lebanon. Just last month, photographs surfaced of General 
Soleimani surrounded by Shiite militia fighters in Iraq's embattled 
Anbar Province.
  I am disappointed to hear some try to minimize these Iranian 
violations of Security Council resolutions because some Iranian arms 
and personnel are currently being used against the heinous Islamic 
State. We must not turn a blind eye to Iranian malfeasance. We must not 
fall into the trap of accepting Iran's transgressions simply because 
they are fighting a common foe. In this case, the enemy of our enemy is 
not our friend. Some of the armed Shia groups fighting the Islamic 
State are the same groups that were killing U.S. troops just a few 
short years ago. They might very well try to do so again.
  A nuclear-armed Iran would be a disaster for the region and the wider 
world--not only for our Israel allies but also for our Saudi, Egyptian, 
Jordanian, Kuwaiti, Qatari, and Emirati allies as well. With the 
continuing turmoil in the region and the threat posed by the Islamic 
State, Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other terrorist groups, the world 
cannot afford a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Considering the 
hand-in-hand history between Iran and Hezbollah, one could easily 
translate a nuclear Iran into a nuclear Hezbollah.
  It is therefore highly distressing that Iran has, to quote the 
Security Council, ``continued certain nuclear activities, including 
uranium enrichment and some work at Arak.'' If Iran has failed to 
sufficiently address even the core cause of the sanctions against them, 
what confidence do we have in them in moving forward?
  It is particularly telling that the U.N. expert panel assessed that a 
decline in reports by member states of Iranian violations results from 
one of two factors: either Iran has decreased its prohibitive 
activities significantly

[[Page 10015]]

or member states have refrained from reporting noncompliance so as not 
to interrupt the negotiations process. In light of the revelations 
contained in this report, the latter appears far more likely.
  As the President continues to push for a permanent deal with Iran's 
leadership, this report is as alarming as it is timely. Past 
performance may not universally predict future behavior, but it 
certainly should be part of the consideration. Moreover, this report is 
far from the only sign of Iranian malfeasance. As recently as 
yesterday, the Iranian Parliament voted to prohibit international 
inspections of military sites, casting into serious doubt its 
commitment to a workable nuclear deal.
  Given these troubling moves, the President should explain to the 
American people what level of confidence he has negotiating with Iran 
given how it repeatedly violates the international community's mandates 
with impunity. The stakes are too high to act as if Iran were a 
trustworthy partner.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
  Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, the Senate is not in a quorum call; is 
that correct?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. That is correct, Senator.

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