House Resolution 559
Resolved, That the House of Representatives declares it is the policy of the United States —
(1) that a nuclear Islamic Republic of Iran is not acceptable;
(2) that Iran must not be able to obtain a nuclear weapon under any circumstances or conditions;
(3) to use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon; and
(4) to recognize and support the freedom of action of partners and allies, including Israel, to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
https://www.congress.gov/118/bills/hres559/BILLS-118hres559ih.pdf
HR559 Calls for US to Use ‘All Means Necessary’
To Prevent Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons
Dave DeCamp / AntiWar.com
(November 2, 2023) — The House on Wednesday passed a resolution that suggested the US would use force against Iran in the future in the name of preventing the country from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The resolution says a nuclear-armed Iran is “unacceptable” and declares that it’s the policy of the US to “use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
A US intelligence report recently affirmed that Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons, but reality doesn’t stop Iran hawks in the US and Israel from constantly hyping up the threat of a non-existent Iranian nuclear weapons program. [See story below — EAW] The same officials do not officially recognize that Israel possesses a nuclear arsenal.
The resolution passed in a vote of 354-53, with 50 Democrats and three Republicans voting against the measure. Explaining his opposition, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) because it seemed like a call for war.
“Yesterday Congress passed a resolution (354 to 53) that claims Iran possesses all it needs for a nuclear weapon,” Massie wrote on X. “The same resolution says the US should ‘use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.’ Seems like a call for war on Iran. I voted No.”
The resolution pointed to Iran’s uranium enrichment at 60% and its stockpiles of enriched uranium as evidence it could make a bomb. But in order to make a nuclear weapon, uranium needs to be enriched at 90%, and there’s no sign Tehran is considering taking that step.
US Intelligence Report Says Iran Is
Not Trying to Make Nuclear Weapons
Assessment Issued by Director of National Intelligence
Dave DeCamp / AntiWar.com
(July 11, 2023) — A new US intelligence report has reaffirmed that Iran is not trying to build nuclear weapons despite constant claims made by Israel and Western media outlets to the contrary.
“Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device,” an unclassified summary of a report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
The report noted that Iran has taken steps to increase uranium enrichment, which it called “research and development activities that would bring it closer to producing the fissile material needed for completing a nuclear device following a decision to do so.”
Iran has been enriching some uranium at 60%, a step it took in 2021 in response to an Israeli attack on its Natanz Nuclear Facility. But 90% enrichment is needed for weapons-grade, and there’s no sign Tehran is looking to bring enrichment to that level.
The DNI report said Iran was enriching uranium beyond the limits imposed by the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA. But those limits are irrelevant since the US withdrew from the agreement in 2018 by reimposing sanctions, making Tehran no longer bound by the deal, which restricted uranium enrichment at 3.67%.
Last year, the Pentagon’s Nuclear Posture Review also concluded that Iran was not developing nuclear weapons. “Iran does not today possess a nuclear weapon and we currently believe it is not pursuing one,” the NPR read.
Israel has been threatening to attack Iran over its nuclear program, but recently the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toned downed its rhetoric on the issue amid reports that the US and Iran have held indirect negotiations.
Tzachi Hanegbi, Netanyahu’s national security adviser, said on June 30 that Israel wasn’t getting any “closer” to bombing Iran because “the Iranians have stopped, for a while now, they are not enriching uranium to the level that in our view is the red line.”
