Excerpts: U.S. House Members say be harder on Iran October 03, 2014

+++SOURCE: Al Arabiya News 3 Oct.’14:”U.D.House members press Kerry on
nulear talks with Iran”, By Patricia Zengerle, Reuters
SUBJECT:US House of Representatives members say be harder on Iran
QUOTE:Four-fifths of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter to
Secretary of State John Kerry - - - to lean harder on Iran”

FULL TEXT:

Three hundred and fifty-four members - four-fifths - of the U.S. House of
Representatives signed the letter sent to Secretary of State John Kerry.
Hundreds of U.S. lawmakers pressed Secretary of State John Kerry to lean
harder on Iran in talks over its nuclear program in a letter released on
Thursday[2 Oct.] after Israel warned Washington not to go easy on Tehran.

Three hundred and fifty-four members - four-fifths - of the U.S. House of
Representatives signed the letter sent to Kerry on Wednesday night,
expressing concerns that an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program might not
require sufficiently strict inspections of its nuclear facilities.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Sept. 5 that Iran had failed to address
concerns about suspected atomic bomb research by an agreed deadline.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Barack Obama on
Wednesday[1 Oct.] that he must make sure any final nuclear deal with Iran
does not leave it at the “threshold” of being able to develop nuclear
weapons.

Netanyahu has been attempting to shift the global spotlight away from
Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria and back to Iran, warning that a
nuclear-armed Tehran would pose a far greater threat than the militant
Islamists.

On Thursday[2 Oct.] Netanyahu voiced doubts that his talks with Obama would
lead to a tougher U.S. line.

“Both of us want to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But I say
that is not enough. You want to prevent it from (being able to) develop a
nuclear weapon in a short term, of weeks or months. What is called breakout
time,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 television.

Asked whether he was “encouraged” about the issue of preventing Iran from
achieving break-out capability after meeting Obama, Netanyahu answered: “I
cannot say that. I can only say that I expressed the things important to
Israel and Israel’s security.”

Although Israel backs Obama’s efforts to forge a coalition to confront
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria fighters, some Israelis fear world powers
could go easy on Shi’ite Muslim Iran’s nuclear program so it will help in
the fight against the Sunni Islamists.

Iran and six world powers are expected to meet again for nuclear talks in
Europe in the next two weeks, Iranian and Western officials said.

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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA