Senator Robert Menendez, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, spoke at the AIPAC conference in Washington on Tuesday.

Senator Menendez (D-NJ) focused on the strong ties between America and Israel, and the threat that Iran’s nuclear program poses to both countries.

Menendez, who has backed a new sanctions package against Iran, warned that it will soon be “too late” for sanctions. America has just six months, he said.

He expressed skepticism over ongoing talks between the West and Iran, noting, “the international community seems to want any deal more than it wants a good deal.”

To be effective, diplomacy “must be continually reinforced,” he declared. Any agreement with Iran must be “verifiable, effective, and [prevent] them from ever developing even one nuclear weapon,” he insisted.

Menendez’s strong warnings on Iran previously brought him a commendation from AIPAC, which recently said in a statement:

AIPAC commends Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-NJ) for his strong and eloquent statement on the Senate floor today outlining the threat of Iran's nuclear program and the imperative of dismantling it…

We applaud Senator Menendez’s determined leadership on this issue and his authorship with Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) of the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act. We agree with the Chairman that stopping the Iranian nuclear program should rest on bipartisan support and that there should not be a vote at this time on the measure.  We remain committed to working with the Administration and the bipartisan leadership in Congress to ensure that the Iran nuclear program is dismantled.