J Street reiterated Wednesday its strong support for efforts by the United States and its partners in the P5+1 to reach an agreement with Iran that could serve as a significant first step in efforts to prevent the Iranians from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“We need to see how the talks in Geneva resolve and what the terms of the agreement are, but our understanding is that this first step will freeze and begin to roll back the Iranian program for several months while keeping the vast body of sanctions in place,” said J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami.
“As such, it should be welcomed by the whole world, including Israel, as a major step toward averting the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran without resorting to military action,” he said.
J Street also repeated its call to Members of Congress not to take any action while the sensitive negotiations are progressing that might disrupt or derail an agreement.
Absent a deal, either the Iranians will keep moving full speed toward the capacity to assemble a weapon, or Israel, the United States or both might feel impelled take military action to set back the Iranian program, potentially plunging the region into a deeply destabilizing war, the consequences of which are impossible to predict.