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United
Against Nuclear Iran Statement on Singapore Summit
New York, NY
- United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) President David Ibsen
issued the following statement ahead of President Donald Trump's
summit in Singapore with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un:
"President Trump's negotiations must avoid the
failings of the Iran nuclear deal. This means no sunsets;
anytime, anywhere inspections; tackling the ballistic missile file in
addition to Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program; and focusing on non-nuclear
issues, like the DPRK's cyber assaults, human rights abuses, and
chemical and biological weapons programs.
"Further, unlike in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA), the security and equities of U.S. allies in the
region - namely Japan and South Korea - must be respected and
guaranteed.
"With the stakes being so high, these are measures
upon which there cannot be compromise. No deal is better than a
bad one."
Speaking on Fox
News' Fox & Friends this past Sunday, UANI Chairman
Joseph Lieberman further called on President Trump to avoid the
JCPOA's mistakes when negotiating with North Korea:
"Ironically, going back to the Iran Nuclear
Agreement, I'd say, 'Mr. President, remember all the criticisms that
you made of the Iran Nuclear Agreement. Because they're
relevant here. Don't want the agreement with North Korea more
than the North Koreans did,' as he says and I agree with him.
It looked like the Obama Administration did. Don't settle
for a halfway measure that, 'Okay, we'll stop our nuclear development
program now, but ten years from now, we'll start it again.'
Don't compromise on an inspection program that leaves a lot of North
Korea open to whatever the North Koreans want to do just the way the
Iran Nuclear Agreement did with Iran.
"And then I'd say, 'Follow your instincts.'
This is big, it's important to that part of the world, it's important
to the United States. Basically, we think that the North
Koreans could now reach anywhere in the United States with one of
their intercontinental missiles, but in the end, it comes down to
their relationship that these two very different men establish with
one another."
To read more about this issue and to read more on UANI's
recommended principles for negotiation, please see the background
below.
PRINCIPLES FOR NEGOTIATION
Nuclear
And Non-Nuclear Capabilities
- Any shutdown and dismantlement of the DPRK's
nuclear program must be permanent. No sunsets and no
'renting' of temporary compliance as in the JCPOA.
- The ballistic missile equation - including
missile proliferation activities - is inseparable from the
nuclear file.
Inspections
- Anytime, anywhere inspections, including of
military sites. When the JCPOA was finalized we were
promised unprecedented verification measures.
Unfortunately, 'unprecedented' does not equal
'sufficient.' Any inspections regime must be sufficient
for verification. We must also establish the baseline of
DPRK's prior nuclear weapons work to guide future inspections
and verification activities.
Sanctions Relief
- No upfront sanctions relief or financial
concessions. Sanctions relief should be phased and
delivered after verifications that nuclear activities
have ceased. Upfront financial concessions will certainly
be pocketed, and U.S. leverage will subside. Furthermore,
a portion of any sanctions relief/financial concession should be
allocated as food and/or medical aid for the North Korean
people.
- U.S. concessions must be realistic and
plausible. Unfulfilled promises made by Secretary John Kerry
during JCPOA negotiations damaged U.S. credibility, angered
partners, and accelerated the JCPOA breakdown.
International Allies And The U.S. Congress
- Allies matter. Japan and South Korea
have equities here that need to be respected and their security
guaranteed. The JCPOA did no such thing with Israel and
our Arab partners.
- Any agreement must stand up to rigorous
congressional scrutiny and have overwhelming bi-partisan
support. A deal that divides the country and our allies will not
last, as proven by the JCPOA.
BACKGROUND
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Has Highlighted The
Extensive Ties Between North Korea And Iran:
- UANI: "The Iranian-North
Korean Threat Is Compounded By The Two Nations' Cooperation,
Especially In The Realm Of Nuclear And Ballistic Missile
Development." "North Korea is
notorious for its extensive and illicit export of ballistic
missiles and related technology. The threats posed by Iran
and North Korea to the U.S. and its allies are broad and
multifaceted, encompassing weapons of mass destruction (WMD)
proliferation and delivery, cybersecurity, transnational crime,
human rights violations, and destabilizing regional
activities. The Iranian-North Korean threat is compounded
by the two nations' decades-long record of cooperation,
especially in the realm of nuclear and ballistic missile
development. Knowledge and technology flow both ways
between these partners, enabling each to refine and advance
their illicit proliferation activities." ("Iran
& North Korea - Nuclear Proliferation Partners," UANI,
Accessed 6/5/18)
- UANI Senior Advisor Senator Mark
Kirk: "With
the clear understanding that Iran has played a central role in
helping North Korea advance its missile technology, it's time
for America to show that our rhetoric in response to rogue
states is matched with concrete action... To show both North
Korea and Iran that their actions are untenable, the Trump
administration must follow through on its promise to impose
further sanctions on those found to have helped Iran and North
Korea share military technology. With the clear
understanding that Iran has played a central role in helping
North Korea advance its missile technology, it's time for
America to show that our rhetoric in response to rogue states is
matched with concrete action." (Mark Kirk,
"Remember Iran When Dealing With North Korea," Chicago
Tribune, 12/8/17)
As A Potential U.S.-North Korea Summit Now Approaches,
Iran Remains A Looming Presence Over The Talks:
- The U.S. Exit Of The Iran Deal
Has Been Linked To The North Korea Talks. "President
Donald Trump's scrapping of the Iran deal he inherited raised
the stakes for a North Korean agreement he hopes to build, a
contradiction over two aspiring nuclear powers that pose the
biggest foreign policy challenge yet for his administration.
The President didn't wait for his critics to link Iran and North
Korea. He proudly made the connection himself, standing in
the Diplomatic Reception Room on Tuesday, declaring:
'Relationships are building. Hopefully a deal will happen.'" (Jeff
Zeleny & Kevin Liptak, "Trump's Iran Decision Raises
The Stakes On North Korea," CNN,
5/9/18)
- The Two Countries' Respective
Nuclear Programs Have Been Compared To One Another. "And
how many nuclear weapons does North Korea have? 'Some of
the key experts are talking about somewhere in the neighborhood
of 15 to 40 nuclear weapons. There have been press reports
that the intelligence community is talking about 30 to 60,' he
added. 'I think we have to recognize the
uncertainties.' By comparison, the U.S. knew much more
about Iran's nuclear program when those negotiations took
place. Many details were collected by international
inspectors, who haven't been allowed inside North Korea in
years. Iran reached a nuclear deal with world powers in
2015. Trump pulled out of the deal in May, though the
other parties involved remain committed to the agreement for
now." (Greg Myre, "The Spies Have A Leading Role
In The North Korea Summit," NPR,
6/1/18)
Iran & North Korea Have Had A Long History Of
Cooperating In The Proliferation Of Ballistic Missile Technology:
- A May 2017 Report From The U.S.
Intelligence Community Found North Korea Had Been Exporting
"Ballistic Missiles And Associated Materials To Several
Countries, Including Iran." "North
Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs will continue to
pose a serious threat to US interests and to the security
environment in East Asia in 2017. North Korea's export of
ballistic missiles and associated materials to several
countries, including Iran and Syria, and its assistance to
Syria's construction of a nuclear reactor, destroyed in 2007,
illustrate its willingness to proliferate dangerous
technologies." ("Worldwide Threat Assessment Of
The US Intelligence Community," Director
Of National Intelligence, 5/11/17)
- In
January 2017, Iran Launched A Missile That Was A Version Of
North Korea's Intermediate-Range Missile, The Hwasong-10. "A
ballistic missile launched by Iran on Sunday was North Korean in
construction or design, according to the Pentagon. The
missile test, which ended in failure, was not a violation of
2015's Iranian nuclear deal, but arguably was in violation of a
U.N. Security Council resolution. Either way, this latest
test could set Iran on a collision course with the Trump
Administration, which has promised to take a hard line on
Iran. According to Reuters, the missile traveled 630 miles
before it exploded, either by accident or by design. There
are no official details regarding what kind of missile it was,
although it was certainly a ballistic missile. An anonymous
U.S. government official told Reuters the missile was launched
from a test site near Senman, east of the Iranian capital of
Tehran, and said it was the same type of missile last tested in
April 2016. As pointed out by arms control expert Jeffrey
Lewis on Twitter, the Pentagon identified the July 2016 missile
as a locally produced version of the Musudan, a North Korean
intermediate-range missile. Also known as the Hwasong-10,
the missile is allegedly derived from an obsolete Soviet Cold
War missile, the R-27 Zyb." (Kyle Mizokami,
"Pentagon: Iran Tested A Ballistic Missile With North
Korean Origins," Popular
Mechanics, 1/31/17)
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