First appeared on FOX: Republican Senator Tim Scott and Representative Mike Lawler are pressuring the Biden administration to condemn Iran at the next International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference for its escalating nuclear activities and to ensure that steps are taken to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
On Monday afternoon, the two men are expected to introduce a draft resolution “referring the issue to the UN Security Council and reaffirming that all measures will be taken to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
“In the 18 months since the IAEA last held Iran accountable, the Iranian regime’s destabilizing actions have skyrocketed. Iran’s terrorist proxies have attacked U.S. forces, shut down global trade and sparked a brutal conflict in Gaza,” Scott said. “Last month, Iran emerged from the shadows to directly attack Israel, all while the Iranian regime continues to steadily build up its nuclear arsenal.”
According to the IAEA website, the agency seeks to “promote the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to prohibit the use of nuclear energy for any military purposes, including nuclear weapons.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader thanks American college students for being ‘on the right side of history’
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Rep. Mike Lawler of New York introduced a resolution on Monday calling on the Biden administration to condemn Iran’s nuclear activities. (Michael A. McCoy/Stringer/Tom Williams/Contributor)
The resolution, first published by Fox News Digital, says the United States should work to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and urges the Biden administration to pursue punitive measures for Iran’s violations of international nuclear non-proliferation agreements.
The report condemns Iran’s obstruction of the IAEA’s monitoring and verification activities and calls for sanctions against Iran’s nuclear and missile programs.
“Iran is the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, and there is no greater national security threat than a nuclear-armed Iran,” Lawler said in a statement. “Unfortunately, a weak and appeasement foreign policy has emboldened Iran, bringing it closer to possessing a nuclear weapon than it has ever possessed before. Enough is enough.”
The five-page resolution also “stresses the need for a coordinated international response to address the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, and calls on all nations to take decisive action, in cooperation with the United States, to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon and abides by nuclear non-proliferation standards in the Middle East and beyond.”
The Senate version of the resolution was co-sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Lindsey Graham (R-Arkansas) and Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina).
In the House of Representatives, co-sponsors are Reps. John James (R-Mich.), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Claudia Tenney (N.Y.), Juan Siscomani (R-Ariz.), Young Kim (R-Calif.), Zach Nunn (R-Iowa), and Josh Gottheimer (D-Jersey).
Iran could build nuclear bomb in a week, report says amid rising Middle East tensions
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Iran’s nuclear facility in Isfahan, Iran, on April 4, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via The Associated Press)
In February, UN nuclear watchdog He warned that Iran “has not been completely transparent” about its nuclear program, especially after an official who once led Iran’s nuclear program said Iran has “in its hands” all the components needed for a nuclear weapon.
Iran has been pursuing nuclear enrichment just below weapons-grade levels since its nuclear deal with world powers collapsed in 2015. Tehran has amassed enough enriched uranium to make multiple weapons if it wanted.
US uses ‘flawed’ definition to ignore Iranian nuclear weapons activities: expert
Iranian demonstrators carry model missiles during an anti-Israel rally in Feresteen (Palestinian) Square in Tehran, Iran, Monday, April 15, 2024, as a mosque’s minaret and dome are seen in the background. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Critics of the Biden administration’s Iran policy say the White House Strategies of De-escalation and Containment Targeting Iran’s nuclear program has backfired: The Iranian regime, the world’s worst state sponsor of international terrorism, is moving with alarming speed to acquire a working nuclear weapon.
Click here to get the FOX News app
In April, Fox News Digital obtained an intelligence report from Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which highlighted that Iran continues to conduct intensive procurement activities in Germany for its nuclear and missile programs, and suggested that Iran is conducting proliferation-related activities to circumvent existing sanctions.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Benjamin Weinthal of The Associated Press and Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
