Congressman Sherman Welcomes U.S. Shift on Iran

Congressman Sherman Welcomes U.S. Shift on Iran

Congressman Brad Sherman on Wednesday welcomed an announcement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today that the United States is willing to join multilateral talks with Iran over its nuclear programs if it suspends nuclear activities.

The ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation, Sherman noted that the new approach could be tailored to include the right mix of carrots and sticks aimed at inducing the Iranian regime to forgo development of nuclear weapons.

"I have been a strong supporter of increased sanctions, which President Bush has not aggressively pursued," Sherman said. "The U.S. has not taken the steps needed to increase the diplomatic and especially economic pressure on the Iranian regime. Apart from Iraq, that failure is probably the No. 1 foreign policy mistake of the Bush administration.

"That being said, I also favor laying out, especially for the benefit of the Iranian people, a series of actions the U.S. is willing to take in response to positive actions by the Iranian government to improve relations between Washington and Tehran - the ‘carrots' necessary for an effective policy.

"I have also believed all along that, under the right conditions, the U.S. can deliver these messages directly to the Iranian regime. We should not be afraid of talking with the Iranians directly so long as we can verify that they have indeed suspended enrichment activities."

Sherman noted that even if Tehran rejects this latest offer, with this proposal the U.S. is taking steps to demonstrate to the rest of the world that we are willing to be flexible and are willing to explore positive inducements for the Iranian regime, as well as punitive measures.

"It is clear that if we are going to lead the world down the right path in confronting Iran, the discussion cannot just involve punitive measures. We have to be willing to move in the other direction too."

http://www.house.gov/list/press/ca27_sherman/pr_060531.html