The American Jewish Committee (AJC) held a virtual discussion with lawmakers from 10 countries on how to respond to Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The ACJ Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) inter-parliamentary group convened a virtual roundtable summit co-chaired by Reps. Brad Schneider (D-IL) and Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) bringing brought together 22 members of Congress, members of the Knesset, and lawmakers from Europe and Canada.
As negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program continue in Vienna, lawmakers from across the political spectrum and from both sides of the Atlantic consulted on Monday on the challenges in addressing Tehran‘s quest for nuclear weapons, its regional aggression, and its support for global terrorism.
“It is in the interest of the world that Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. Period, stop. And we need to do everything to ensure that that never happens. The only way to peacefully end Iran's nuclear ambitions and activities is through diplomacy. But we need to make sure all options are on the table,” said Schneider.
Garbarino added: “There needs to be bipartisan buy-in from Congress to make sure that whatever is done will last – and the rules won't change. You will get a stronger deal that way and it is something that everyone can come out together and say they support. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) continues to actively support – both financially and with weapons – terrorist organizations that want to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. We can’t allow that to continue. Taking them off the terrorist watch list is a reward that they don’t deserve.”
TFI President Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou, a Greek Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the European People’s Party (EPP), said: “We’re seeing right now the degree to which Russia’s possession of nuclear weapons is curtailing our room for maneuver in pushing back against its invasion of Ukraine. The idea that we could end up in a similar position when it comes to Iran is pretty terrifying.”
Canadian MP James Bezan (Conservative Party) underlined that “all efforts must be made to make it impossible for Iran to achieve their nuclear aspirations and spread their terror around the world and ultimate goal of attacking Israel.”
Members of Knesset from both the coalition and the opposition shared their concerns about Iran’s nuclear escalation.
Likud MK Yuval Steinitz said: “The world must prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. The scenario of what happened with North Korea will repeat itself in the Middle East. Israel will have to prevent it – but I hope that won’t be necessary. But we have to be prepared for any scenario. In the past, Israel already twice – in Iraq and Syria - destroyed nuclear military projects after the world refused to do anything. I hope this time it’s different.”
Yesh Atid MK Moshe Tur-Paz, who serves on the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said: “In the last seven years, Iran has launched more terror and now has much more extreme leadership than it had in 2015. Because of this we cannot look at Iran in an optimistic way. Israel won’t stand alone against Iran.”