On Friday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) stated that it’s now time for the U.S. to call for the total end of Iranian uranium enrichment “and to say that the inspections would be broader, deeper, more continuous, and that they would abandon all of their nuclear enrichment program. And that would require them opening up all of their sites to continuous monitoring, and, frankly, actions to decommission what’s left of their nuclear program.”
Co-host John Berman asked, “[I]s there a red line for you in these negotiations? Is there any — in other words, if Iran — what guarantees does Iran need to make for you to feel confident that they really are moving away from their nuclear program?”
Coons answered, “Well, look, frankly, they’ve insisted, for years, that they have a right to enrich, and I think it’s time for us to call an end to that and to say that the inspections would be broader, deeper, more continuous, and that they would abandon all of their nuclear enrichment program. And that would require them opening up all of their sites to continuous monitoring, and, frankly, actions to decommission what’s left of their nuclear program. They’ve shown, over recent years, as they’ve raced to enrich to 60%, which is close to bomb grade, hundreds of kilograms of uranium, this is not a peaceful civilian program. They are preparing for and very close to the capacity to have the fissile material for a dozen bombs. Every nation, every — all of the G7, the seven largest economies in the world, all of our European partners and allies, have recently restated a core principle, Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, and their nuclear program poses a threat, not just to Israel, but to many of the nations of the world.”
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