Response to Implementation of Iran Nuclear Agreement

Responding to the announcement that Implementation Day has been reached for the Iran Nuclear Agreement, meaning Iran has verifiably taken steps moving it at least 15 years away from being able to make a nuclear weapon, the Rev. Robert Moore, executive director of the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action (CFPA), the largest peace group in the region, today made the following statement:

"Sustained and determined diplomacy has moved Iran from what experts assessed as a few months, before the Agreement, to at least 15 years away from being able to make a nuclear weapon. This historic agreement, now implemented, makes the U.S. and the world a safer place. I applaud the negotiators representing all the participants for this historic success, as well as the Obama Administration for championing it.

I also applaud Congresspersons from the NJ and PA region who supported the agreement when Congress voted on whether to disapprove it in mid-September. It was a hard-fought debate, and we applaud Senators Cory Booker and Bob Casey for their support. They helped reach 42 Senators who supported the Agreement, enough to prevent President Obama from having to veto any resolution of disapproval.

Many naysayers who opposed this agreement and asserted that Iran would never honor its obligations have been proven wrong. The implementation of this agreement proves that diplomacy works. Instead of never-ending sanctions or war, the U.S. and the international community peacefully prevented Iran from getting nuclear weapons through negotiations leading to a tough, verifiable agreement.

I also applaud the U.S. using its improved diplomatic relations with Iran to secure prompt release of US sailors who had mistakenly wandered into Iranian territory, as well as the release of over 10 prisoners held by the two countries. This shows that successful diplomacy can generate ongoing momentum for peacefully solving difficult and potentially explosive disputes.

We should use the next decade to negotiate additional measures such as internationalizing uranium enrichment globally, as recommended in Science Magazine by Princeton University scientists with whom CFPA works closely, so Iran and other potential nuclear weapon states could be permanently prevented from getting nuclear weapons.

Additionally, I call for sustained and strengthened diplomacy toward a cease-fire within Syria to reach a negotiated solution to end its long horrifying civil war, for which no military solution is possible.

The U.S should also re-enter into six-party talks with North Korea and drop its demand of preconditions for resuming negotiations to resolve the nuclear weapons issues there.

The cause of peace and war prevention would be well served by reducing excessive Pentagon spending and instead strengthening diplomacy to solve international conflicts, saving billions taxpayer dollars as well as huge numbers of lives."