U.S. Republic Senator Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania is cosponsoring a sanctions-in-waiting bill that demonstrates to the Iranian regime that “it will suffer significantly if it cheats on its nuclear commitments, engages in terrorist or ballistic missile activities, or does not move expeditiously to dismantle its military-nuclear program.”
Sen. Toomey joined Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) in cosponsoring the bipartisan Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act. Senator Pat Toomey’s fellow Pennsylvania Democratic Senator Bob Casey is also an original cosponsor of the bill.
Toomey is the 34th co-sponsor of the bill, which is backed by 20 Republicans and 14 Democrats.
The Iranian regime has “a long track record of delaying and cheating,” said Sen. Toomey.
“The combination of tough sanctions and diplomacy is the only conceivable way, short of armed conflict, to achieve the U.S. and U.N. objective of ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” he said in a statement published in his website.
The bill outlines a set of criteria that, at a minimum, must be included in any final agreement with Iranian regime. These criteria include the dismantling of its nuclear infrastructure, bringing the regime into compliance with all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and authorizing frequent inspection of all relevant facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency.