53 national security leaders welcome implementation of the iran nuclear agreement

7/25/2019 53 National Security Leaders Welcome Implementation of the Iran Nuclear Agreement

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Statement by National Security Leaders Welcoming the Announcement

of the Implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

January 18, 2016

We welcome and support the announcement of implementation of the Joint

Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on January 16, 2016.This action marks an

unprecedented success in the longstanding international effort to prevent Iran from developing

nuclear weapons. Implementation Day is the day on which the International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA) has conrmed that Iran has complied with its nuclear related JCPOA commitments.

Specically Iran has:

Shipped out of the country 9,700 kilograms of enriched uranium, leaving a stockpile that will

not exceed 300 kilograms of low enriched uranium (LEU) for at least 15 years, far less than half of

what would be necessary to build a nuclear weapon if the LEU were highly enriched.

Removed 13,940 installed centrifuges and stored them under IAEA control, leaving only 5,060

centrifuges each limited to enriching to no more than 3.67%.

Ceased enriching uranium under close IAEA inspection in the deep underground facility at

Fordow, which will be converted to a nuclear, physics and technology research center.

Neutered the Arak plutonium reactor which, together with limits on reprocessing, means Iran

does not have a plutonium path to the bomb.

As a result of these changes, Irans ability to produce a nuclear weapon hasfor the

first time in nearly a decadebeen dramatically reduced.Iran cannot produce a nuclear

weapon in less than a year, a signicant improvement over the threat of a 2-3 month race to a

bomb that Iran could have run prior to the deal.

Moreover, Irans nuclear program is now under some of the most sweeping inspections

and transparency obligations in history, many of which will remain in place for decades.

If Iran were to attempt to start a new nuclear weapons program, it would be detected. If Irans leaders

were to decide to race to build a nuclear weapon, the U.S. and its allies would have time to react.

Implementation Day also means that nuclear related sanctions imposed on Iran will

be lifted.The threat of sanctions snap-back and the economic damage this would cause, as well as

the promise of economic benets from the sanctions relief in the JCPOA, will help to ensure Iranian

compliance going forward.

With the main provisions of the JCPOA now in place, we call on the executive and

legislative branches of the U.S. government to turn to the rigorous verification of Irans

continuing compliance. The U.S. and others will be able to test this agreement by means of the greatly

enhanced verication measures. Violations of the agreement must not be overlooked or tolerated. The U.S.

must be disciplined and vigilant to ensure strict compliance on every aspect of the agreement.

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New mechanisms for cooperation should be established between the executive and

legislative branches to monitor compliance and evaluate suspected violations. Mutual

trust between these branches of government must be developed so that in eight years time, when

the U.S. will be called on by the JCPOA to lift some key nuclear related sanctions on Iran, both

branches will share a common understanding of Irans record of compliance.

The U.S. will continue to have serious disagreements with Iran over its regional actions,

its internal policies, its missile program, and its support for terrorism. U.S. actions must

make clear to Tehran that the JCPOA does not end these disagreements and that the U.S. will

respond appropriately to Iranian activities outside its borders and to violations of human rights

within them. U.S. efforts will be buttressed by the presence of continuing U.S. unilateral and

secondary sanctions on these Iranian activities.

This unprecedented agreement has reaffirmed the value of diplomacy as an invaluable

tool for conflict resolution. U.S. leadership has brought about this unprecedented agreement and

U.S. leadership will be necessary to assure that the international community achieves its continuing

objective of preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon. Our allies and friends in the region and

around the world will continue to look to the U.S. to give the JCPOA its best chance to

make the world secure from an Iranian nuclear threat and achieve a major advance in

stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

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Graham Allison,Assistant Secretary of Defense

Zbigniew Brzezinski,U.S. National Security Advisor

BGen Stephen A. Cheney (ret.),U.S. Marine Corps

Joseph Cirincione,President of the Ploughshares Fund

Amb. (ret.) Chester A. Crocker,Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

Amb. (ret.) Ryan Crocker,Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon

Amb. (ret.) James B. Cunningham,Ambassador to Israel, Afghanistan and the United Nations

Tom Daschle,U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader

Suzanne DiMaggio,Director and Senior Fellow at New America

Amb. (ret.) James Dobbins,Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan

Robert Einhorn,Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation and the Secretary of States Special Advisor

for Nonproliferation and Arms Control

Adm. William J. Fallon (ret.),U.S. Navy, Commander of U.S. Central Command

Leslie H. Gelb,Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs and Director of Policy Planning

and Arms Control at the Department of Defense

Philip Gordon,Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East,

North Africa and the Gulf Region

Morton H. Halperin,Director of Policy Planning at the Department of State and Deputy Assistant Secretary of

Defense for Planning and Arms Control

Lee H. Hamilton,U.S. Representative and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee


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Amb. (ret.) William C. Harrop,Ambassador to Israel and Inspector General of the State Department

Stephen B. Heintz,President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund

Amb. (ret.) Carla A. Hills,U.S. Trade Representative

J. Bennett Johnston,U.S. Senator

James Hoge,Former Editor of Foreign Affairs Magazine

LTG Frank Kearney (ret.),U.S. Army, Deputy Director for Strategic Operational Planning at the

National Counter-Terrorism Center

Amb. (ret.) Daniel Kurtzer,Ambassador to Israel and Egypt

Amb. (ret.) John Limbert,Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran

Amb. (ret.) Winston Lord,Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacic; Ambassador to China

and Director of Policy Planning, Department of State

Amb. (ret.) William H. Luers,Ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Venezuela

Richard G. Lugar,U.S. Senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations

Jessica T. Mathews,Director of the Ofce of Global Issues of the National Security Council

Amb. (ret.) William G. Miller,Ambassador to Ukraine

Amb. (ret.) Richard W. Murphy,Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Assistant Secretary of State for Near

Eastern and South Asian Affairs

Vali Nasr,Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and Dean of Johns Hopkins'School of

Advanced International Studies

Richard Nephew,Director for Iran at the National Security Council and Deputy Coordinator for Sanctions Policy

at the Department of State

Joseph Nye,Assistant Secretary of Defense and Chairman of the National Intelligence Council

Admiral (ret.) Eric Olson,U.S. Navy and Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command

Paul O'Neill,U.S. Secretary of Treasury

William Perry,U.S. Secretary of Defense

Amb. (ret.) Thomas Pickering,Permanent Representative to the United Nations; Undersecretary of State for

Political Affairs; Ambassador to Israel, Russia, India, El Salvador, Nigeria and Jordan

Paul R. Pillar,National Intelligence Ofcer for the Near East and South Asia

Amb. (ret.) Nicholas Platt,Ambassador to Pakistan, Philippines and Zambia

William Reinsch,Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration and President

National Foreign Trade CouncilAmb. (ret.) J. Stapleton Roy,Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Research and Ambassador to China,

Indonesia and Singapore

Barnett R. Rubin,Senior Adviser to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan

Karim Sadjadpour,Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Gen. (ret.) Brent Scowcroft,U.S. National Security Advisor

Gary Sick,Director of the Ofce of Iran and the Persian Gulf of the National Security Council


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Jim Slattery,U.S. Representative

Anne-Marie Slaughter,Director of Policy Planning at the Department of State

Mark Udall,U.S. Senator

Amb. (ret.) Nicholas A. Veliotes,Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East and South Asia

and Ambassador to Egypt and Jordan

Amb. (ret.) Edward S. Walker, Jr.,Ambassador to Israel, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates

James Walsh,Research Associate at MITs Security Studies Program

Col. (ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson,U.S. Army and Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State

Timothy E. Wirth,U.S. Senator

Amb. (ret.) Frank Wisner,Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs and Ambassador to

India, Egypt, the Philippines and Zambia

*The signers of this statement are either former senior ofcials of the U.S. government or prominent national

security leaders who have not held senior government positions.

The positions listed after the names of the former government ofcials are the senior posts held while in

government. The positions listed after the names of those who were not from the government are listed with

their current position.

53 national security leaders welcome implementation of the iran nuclear agreement

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