The Community Relations Committee of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ has been a proponent of a strong and unyielding international sanctions regime to ensure that Iran’s nuclear weapons capability would be dismantled, and that any diplomatic solution would require, at an absolute minimum, mechanisms for ongoing verification of Iranian compliance.

While we choose to be cautiously hopeful, we are concerned that the interim agreement provides disproportionate relief to Iran in the form of sanction relief and tacit recognition of Iran’s claimed right of enrichment, which does not conform to resolutions by the UN Security Council.

We call on Congress, the Obama Administration, and the international community to ensure strong economic pressures on Iran continue to be used as a tool until a satisfactory final agreement is reached. It is not realistic to think that sanctions, which have taken years to pass and implement, can be easily turned off and on.

Economic pressure caused Iran to come to the negotiating table, and they will continue to contribute to the effort to reach a final agreement satisfactory to all impacted parties.

Additionally, we call on President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry to coordinate with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and anti-nuclear experts to spell out the elements of a final negotiated agreement that would result in the actual dismantling of, and end to, Iran’s nuclear enrichment and plutonium programs.

We must not allow Iran to be in a position to continue its drive for nuclear weapons capability.