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\nUnited States Senators Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) this week sent a letter to President Donald Trump to counter the Iranian regime’s violation of the 2015 nuclear deal by increasing pressure on the regime’s nuclear program.<\/p>\n
The three U.S. Senators called for an end to civil-nuclear waivers issued by the State Department and invoking the snapback mechanism in United Nations Security Council resolution 2231, which would respectively restore the U.S. and international prohibitions on the Iranian regime’s nuclear work.<\/p>\n
The letter came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed this week that Iran’s regime is in violation of restrictions on stockpiling enriched uranium specified in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).<\/p>\n
“First, your administration has continued to issue civil-nuclear waivers allowing Iran to build up its nuclear program as part of an effort to ‘maintain the nuclear status quo with Iran until a better deal can be negotiated,’ including at their Fordow centrifuge facility, a military bunker which they dug into the side of a mountain so they could build nuclear weapons there. The Iranians have now changed the nuclear status quo and are trying to create a new normal of minor violations that will enable their creep toward a nuclear weapon. We urge you to end these waivers,” the senators wrote. “Second, your administration has refrained from invoking the snapback mechanism in United Nations Security Council resolution (UNSCR) 2231, which if invoked would restore international restrictions against Iranian uranium enrichment, plutonium-related heavy water work, and ballistic missile development. Paragraph 10 of UNSCR 2231 defines the United States as a participant for the purpose of invoking the mechanism. We urge you to do so.”<\/p>\n