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THE IRAN PROJECT

www.theiranproject.org
Statement by National Security Leaders on the Announcement
of a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
July 20, 2015
We applaud the announcement that a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has
been reached with Iran to limit its nuclear program. We congratulate President Obama and
all the negotiators for a landmark agreement unprecedented in its importance for preventing
the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Iran.
Though primarily a nonproliferation agreement, the JCPOA has significant implications for
some of Americas most important national objectives: regional stability in the Middle East,
Israels security, dealing with an untrustworthy and hostile nation, and U.S. leadership on major
global challenges.
This JCPOA will put in place a set of constraints and monitoring measures that will help to
assure that Irans nuclear program will be for peaceful purposes only. Major U.S. objectives
have been achieved: uranium enrichment limited to 3.67% and only at the Natanz plant; the Arak
reactor will be re-designed to minimize the amount of plutonium produced and Iran is barred
from separating plutonium and all spent fuel will be removed from Iran; a 98% reduction in Irans
stockpile of low enriched uranium for 15 years; unprecedented surveillance of nuclear activities
and control of nuclear related imports; a two-thirds reduction in the installed centrifuges for ten
years; constraints on research and development of advanced centrifuges. The agreement will set
up a highly effective multilayered program to monitor and inspect every aspect of Irans nuclear
supply chain and fuel cycle, including continuous monitoring at some sites for 20-25 years, and
permit inspections on short notice. We have followed carefully the negotiations as they have
progressed and conclude that the JCPOA represents the achievement of greater security for us
and our partners in the region.
We acknowledge that the JCPOA does not achieve all of the goals its current detractors
have set for it. But it does meet all of the key objectives. Most importantly, should Iran violate the
agreement and move toward building nuclear weapons, it will be discovered early and in sufficient
time for strong countermeasures to be taken to stop Iran. No agreement between multiple parties
can be a perfect agreement without risks. We believe without this agreement, the risks to the security
of the U.S. and its friends would be far greater. We have also not heard any viable alternatives from
those who oppose the implementation of the JCPOA.
We, the undersigned, have devoted our careers to the peace and security of the United
States in both Republican and Democratic Administrations. U.S. presidents and Congresses over
the past 20 years have joined in a bipartisan policy of sanctioning and isolating Iran to prevent a
nuclear weapon. There was bipartisan understanding that when the Iranians indicated a readiness to
talk the U.S. would lead the negotiations to test Irans seriousness. Indeed the Corker-Cardin legislation, which was approved this past spring by an overwhelming bipartisan vote in both the House and
Senate was signed into law by the President, defines the review process that the Congress will use
over the coming months. Members of both political parties can deservedly take credit for bringing
us to this moment.
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We welcome the discussion that will unfold over the merits of this agreement. We urge members
of Congress to be closely involved in the oversight, monitoring and enforcement of this agreement.
As Congress was so diligent and constructive in pressing forward the highly effective sanctions regime
that helped get Iran to the table, it must now play a key role in the implementation of the agreement
which they helped bring about. Congressional approval will eventually be required to lift sanctions
under the agreement. Arrangements now need to be made to assure that Congress is a full partner
in its implementation.
Those who advocate rejection of the JCPOA should evaluate whether there is a feasible alternative
for better protecting U.S. security and more effectively preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear
weapon. The consequences of rejection are grave: the unraveling of international sanctions; U.S.
responsibility for the collapse of the agreement; and the possible development of an Iranian nuclear
weapon under significantly reduced or no inspections. A rejection of the agreement could leave the
U.S. with the only alternative of having to use military force unilaterally in the future.
We call on the Administration to place the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in a strategic
context: assuring our partners in the region that the United States remains fully committed to
their defense and to countering any destabilizing Iranian actions in the region. We also call on the
Administration, with the express support of the Congress, to make clear that it will remain the
firm policy of the United States, during the agreements initial 10 to 15 years as well as after key
restrictions expire, to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon by all available means.
We will join in a bipartisan effort to formulate a balanced and objective assessment and
implementation of this agreement. We are committed to building an effective strategy for its full
implementation. This effort will be critical in view of the agreements significance for the protection
of the security of the U.S. and its friends and for preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Amb. (ret.) Morton Abramowitz, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research and Ambassador to

Thailand and Turkey

Madeleine Albright, U.S. Secretary of State


Samuel Berger, U.S. National Security Advisor
Zbigniew Brzezinski, U.S. National Security Advisor
Amb. (ret.) Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and Ambassador to Greece
BGen. (ret.) Stephen A. Cheney, U.S. Marine Corps
Joseph Cirincione, President of the Ploughshares Fund
Amb. (ret.) Chester A Crocker, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
Amb. (ret.) Ryan Crocker, Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait, and Lebanon
Tom Daschle, U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader
Suzanne DiMaggio, Director of the 21st Century Diplomacy Project at New America
Amb. (ret.) James Dobbins, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan

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Robert Einhorn, Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation and Secretary of States Special Advisor for

Nonproliferation and Arms Control

Amb. (ret.) Stuart E. Eizenstat, Deputy Treasury Secretary and Department of States Special Envoy for

Holocaust Issues in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs

Michele Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy


Leslie Gelb, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs and Director of Policy Planning and

Arms Control at the Department of Defense

Morton H. Halperin, Director of Policy Planning, Department of State


Lee H. Hamilton, U.S. House of Representatives and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Amb. (ret.) William C. Harrop, Ambassador to Israel and Inspector General of the State Department
Gary Hart, U.S. Senator and Special Envoy to Northern Ireland
Stephen B. Heintz, President, Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Amb. (ret.) Christopher Hill, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs and Ambassador

to Iraq, Korea, Poland, and Macedonia

Amb. (ret.) Carla A. Hills, U.S. Trade Representative


James Hoge, former Editor, Foreign Affairs Magazine
J. Bennett Johnston, U.S. Senator
Nancy Landon Kassebaum, U.S. Senator
LTG (ret.) Frank Kearney, U.S. Army
Carl Levin, U.S. Senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services
Amb. (ret.) Winston Lord, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Ambassador to China

and Director of State Department Policy Planning

Amb. (ret.) William H. Luers, Ambassador to Czechoslovakia and Venezuela


Jessica T. Mathews, Director of the Office of Global Issues of the National Security Council
George J. Mitchell, U.S. Senator and Senate Majority Leader
Amb. (ret.) William G. Miller, Ambassador to Ukraine
Amb. (ret.) Richard W. Murphy, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Assistant Secretary of State for

Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs

Vali Nasr, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and Dean of Johns Hopkins University SAIS
Richard Nephew, Director for Iran, National Security Council and Deputy Coordinator for Sanctions Policy at

the Department of State

Joseph Nye, Assistant Secretary of Defense and Chairman National Intelligence Council
Paul ONeill, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
Admiral (ret.) Eric Olson, U.S. Navy and Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command
William Perry, U.S. Secretary of Defense

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Amb. (ret.) Thomas Pickering, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Under Secretary of State for

Political Affairs, and Ambassador to Israel, Russia, India, United Nations, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan

Paul R. Pillar, National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia
Amb. (ret.) Nicholas Platt, Ambassador to Pakistan, Philippines, and Zambia
Joe R. Reeder, Deputy Secretary of the Army and Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission
Donald W. Riegle, U.S. Senator
William Reinsch, Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration and President National

Foreign Trade Council

Amb. (ret.) J. Stapleton Roy, Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Research and Ambassador to China,

Indonesia, and Singapore

Barnett R. Rubin, Senior Adviser to the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Karim Sadjadpour, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Gen. (ret.) Brent Scowcroft, U.S. National Security Advisor
RADM (ret.) Joe Sestak, U.S. Navy, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Programs
Gary Sick, National Security Council Member for Iran and the Persian Gulf
Jim Slattery, U.S. House of Representatives
Anne-Marie Slaughter, Director of Policy Planning, the Department of State
Mark Udall, U.S. Senator
Amb. (ret.) Nicholas A. Veliotes, Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East and South Asia and

Ambassador to Egypt and Jordan

Amb. (ret.) Edward S. Walker, Jr., Ambassador to Israel, Egypt, and United Arab Emirates
James Walsh, Research Associate at MITs Security Studies Program
Col. (ret.) Lawrence Wilkerson, U.S. Army, Chief of Staff to the Secretary of State
Timothy E. Wirth, U.S. Senator
Amb. (ret.) Frank Wisner, Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs and Ambassador to India,

Egypt, the Philippines and Zambia

* The signers of this statement were either former senior officials of the U.S. government or prominent national
security leaders who have not held senior government positions. The positions listed after the names of the former
government officials are senior posts held while in office. The positions listed after the names of those who were
not from the government are listed with their current position.

End

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email : iranproject @ fcsny . org

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