Brzezinski, Scowcroft Support Obama on Iran Former National Security Advisors Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft sent a letter today to the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives supporting President Obama's efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution on Iran's nuclear program. "We call on all Americans and the US Congress to stand firmly with the President in the difficult but historic negotiations with Iran," the letter read. "Should the United States fail to take this historic opportunity, we risk failing to achieve our non-proliferation goal and losing the support of allies and friends while increasing the probability of war." Brent Scowcroft served as the national security advisor to Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush. Zbigniew Brzezinski was national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter. The letter comes as US and allies enter a new round of negotiations with Iran this week in Geneva. Many expect the talks to result in concrete steps toward an agreement on Iran’s controversial nuclear activities. Brzezinski and Scowcroft cautioned against new sanctions on Tehran being considered in Congress, "Additional sanctions now against Iran with the view to extracting even more concessions in the negotiations will risk undermining or even shutting down the negotiations."

The letter is the latest in a wave of bipartisan support for President Obama's approach to Iran's nuclear program by many of America's leading national security experts. Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of 79 former military and diplomatic leaders, intelligence officials, policymakers, and senior security experts applauded efforts to achieve a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear standoff.

We support President Obama’s decision to seek a first phase understanding with Iran to limit Iran’s nuclear program now. The agreement under discussion would slow crucial elements of the Iran program, make it more transparent and allow time to reach a more comprehensive agreement in the coming year. The apparent commitment of the new government of Iran to reverse course on its nuclear activities needs to be tested to insure it cannot rapidly build a nuclear weapon. Such an agreement would advance the national security of the United States, Israel, and other partners in the region. For nearly two decades American Presidents with the strong support of the US Congress have worked on a two track policy of building ever more forceful sanctions against and pressure on Iran combined with a willingness to turn to diplomacy when opportune. It now seems possible that this dual track approach could achieve our goals of preventing a nuclear armed Iran. The United States has had the unprecedented cooperation of its allies and virtually the entire international community in this two track strategy. Should the United States fail to take this historic opportunity, we risk failing to achieve our non-proliferation goal and losing the support of allies and friends while increasing the probability of war. Additional sanctions now against Iran with the view to extracting even more concessions in the negotiations will risk undermining or even shutting down the negotiations. More sanctions now as these unprecedented negotiations are just getting underway would reconfirm Iranians in their belief that the US is not prepared to make any agreement with the current

government of Iran. We call on all Americans and the US Congress to stand firmly with the President in the difficult but historic negotiations with Iran. Sincerely, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft, Former National Security Advisor ###