“Sanctions alone won’t work on Iran”

July 9, 2010

Washington, D.C. - In today’s Washington Post, former Senator Charles Robb and General Chuck Wald urged the United States to take a triple-track approach to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions with “the simultaneous pursuit of diplomacy; sanctions; and visible, credible military readiness activity.” While the “tough, new sanctions against Iran” signed into U.S. law last week were a good first step, they “alone will prove inadequate to halt Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.” Senator Robb and General Wald, along with former Senator Dan Coats, are the authors of the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) report, Meeting the Challenge: When Time Runs Out, which was released last month. Meeting the Challenge: When Time Runs Out is the third in a series of BPC reports on Iran.

In the recently released report and the op-ed, Senator Robb and General Wald argue that “current trends suggest that Iran could achieve nuclear weapons capability before the end of this year, posing a strategically untenable threat to the United States.” They assert that “an Iran emboldened by nuclear weapons” cannot be contained and “clearly might overstep its boundaries, pulling the Middle East and the United States into a treacherous conflict.” Another likely scenario is “that Israel would first attack Iranian nuclear facilities triggering retaliatory strikes by Iran and its terrorist proxies,” putting the United States in an “extremely difficult position.”

In the op-ed, Robb and Wald recommend that “the administration needs to expand its approach and make clear to the Iranian regime and the American people: If diplomatic and economic pressures do not compel Iran to terminate its nuclear program, the U.S. military has the capability and is prepared to launch an effective, targeted strike on Tehran's nuclear and supporting military facilities.”

Robb and Wald conclude, “we are not under any illusions: No risk-free solutions exist. Our triple-track strategy does not guarantee complete success. However, the likely alternatives are more alarming, with a perilous conflict involving a nuclear Iran becoming more probable each day. The stakes are too high to rely on sanctions and diplomacy without credibly preparing for a potential military strike as well. We cannot fall prey to the inertia of resignation. Bold U.S. leadership is required.”

Read the full editorial here. To read Meeting the Challenge: When Time Runs Out, please visit our website.

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