Prepared Testimony by Dr. Jim Walsh Before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee Hearing: Addressing Iran's Nuclear Ambitions

April 24, 2008

Weapon Program: 

  • Nuclear

My remarks will focus primarily on the issue of Iran's nuclear program. Accordingly, I will begin with a brief description of the status of the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear activities and then examine current U.S. policy. I conclude that this policy is failing and unlikely to succeed in the near to intermediate term. I think look at various policy alternatives, giving particular attention to a proposal made by Willion Luers, Thomas Pickering, and myself in a recent issue of the New York Review of Books. It suggests that Iran's nuclear enrichment and related program should be multi-lateralized, that is, run by an international consortium that includes Iran. (Let me state at the outset that the views offered here are my own and are not intended to represent Ambassador Luers or Ambassador Pickering except with respect to the multi-lateralization proposal.) The testimony concludes with a look of the lessons learned from America's experience with North Korea and Libya and a consideration of the special role that Congress can play in promoting an effective resolution of the nuclear stand-off and more constructive U.S.-Iranian relations generally.

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