The World Jewish Congress expressed its deep misgivings after the announcement that the Western powers had secured in Geneva an interim agreement in Geneva on limiting the Iranian nuclear program.
“Iran must be judged by its actions, not its words and promises, because they are not worth the paper they are written on,” said World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder.
“Nothing in the deceptive behavior of Iran and its leaders in recent years should make the world believe that they will honor this agreement.”
Lauder added that the WJC welcomes the preparedness of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other leaders of the U.S. Congress to support a strengthening of Iran sanctions.
Other American Jewish leaders reacted with deep skepticism on Sunday to details of the Geneva deal.
”The sanctions had the Ayatollahs on the ropes and the U.S. and West let them win the round and perhaps the match,” Rabbi Marvin Hier and Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center said.
“Iran has taken a page from their North Korean friends whose negotiations with the United States did nothing to stop Pyongyang from breaking out as a nuclear power when it suited them. Tehran has not been forced to destroy a single centrifuge,” they said.
Daniel S. Mariaschin, Executive Vice President of the B’nai B’rith, said, “The deal signed in Geneva does not go far enough in reversing Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear weapon.” “The high speed centrifuges will still remain in place, and it remains unclear whether Tehran will permit full or only ‘managed’ access to all of its nuclear facilities. Its long history of deception on inspections is cause for much skepticism on this point.”
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed “deep concern” about “flaws” in the nuclear accord. “Now that the agreement has been achieved, all parties must work to uphold and rigorously enforce the existing sanctions regime,” Barry Curtiss-Lusher, ADL National Chair, and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said in a statement.
”Iran’s record of non-compliance makes us skeptical of providing sanctions relief before Iran has taken tangible steps to dismantle its nuclear program.”
“Instead, this interim agreement allows them to continue enrichment and maintain a breakout capability. Iran has not earned these concessions and has, in the past, used respites from international pressure to surreptitiously make progress in its nuclear program,” the ADL leaders said.
American Jewish Committee Director David Harris : “Ultimately, the true test of this agreement will be the ability of the world powers and UN agencies to verify Iranian compliance, including openness to, and full cooperation with, regular, intrusive inspections of all of its nuclear facilities.”
“Meanwhile, we believe that existing sanctions should remain in place and new sanctions, whose trigger date would not necessarily be immediate, should be pursued to underscore the seriousness of America’s determination — and the consequences of an Iranian failure to act in good faith,” Harris said. He opposed calls by US President Obama to refrain from passing new sanctions legislation until this weekend’s agreement is given time to prove its worth.