The most powerful pro-Israel lobby group in the United States has called for a restrictive approach to Iran’s nuclear energy program.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) has called on the members of the US Senate to co-sign a letter to US president Barack Obama to adopt a restrictive approach to Iran's nuclear program.

The letter was released at the AIPAC annual policy conference in Washington DC on Sunday

Iran and the P5+1 group, which comprises the United States, Russia, China, France, the UK, and Germany, signed an interim nuclear deal in Geneva, Switzerland, last November to pave the way for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old standoff over Tehran’s nuclear energy program. The deal took effect on January 20.

The AIPAC letter said that in case of any final nuclear deal with Iran, Obama should be guided by the principle that “Iran has no inherent right to [uranium] enrichment under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”

The letter further read that any agreement must envisage the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear energy program. The letter also includes the closure of Iran’s nuclear facilities including Fordo and Arak.

Iranian officials have time and again stressed that the Islamic Republic will not shut down or dismantle any of its nuclear facilities.

The letter was signed by three Democratic senators led by Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, and three Republican senators led by the outspokenly hawkish Lindsey Graham.

The letter by the pro-Israel lobby comes as Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are to meet on Monday, with Iran’s nuclear energy program expected to be high on the agenda.

US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, who leads the US negotiating team to the nuclear talks between Iran and the P5 + 1 group, told reporters in al-Quds (Jerusalem) on February 22 that in a comprehensive agreement Iran would be able to maintain a domestic enrichment program that answers its practical needs.

It is an “unlikely” expectation to ask Iran for zero enrichment, she added.

By Press TV

 

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