Senators say U.S. must support Israel in any military action against Iran

TEHRAN,March 3(MNA) – A group of bipartisan senators are promoting legislation promising Israel U.S. support if the former chooses to attack Iran on its own, Ynetnews reported on Friday. According to the report, the legislation is sponsored by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez. The two hope to see the resolution accepted before Obama’s spring visit to Israel. “No one wants another conflict anywhere in the world militarily, but we also don’t want a nuclear-capable Iran,” Graham, a South Carolina Republican and a member of the Senate’s Committee on Armed Services, said at a press conference. His partner, Sen. Robert Menendez, a Democrat and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, reiterated the U.S. desire for achieving progress with Iran through negotiation and not military action, but noted that “we will not talk for talking sake.” “This is not a green light to Israel to do anything other than defend itself (and a promise that) we will be there,” Graham said. At the heart of the bipartisan resolution stands the promise to support Israel in the case of an attack. According to the resolution, if Israel is “compelled to take military action in self-defense, the United States government should stand with Israel and provide diplomatic, military, and economic support to the government of Israel in its defense of its territory, people, and existence.” Befitting a bipartisan initiative, the legislation is backed by senators from both sides of the bench. Joining the two are Democrats Sen. Chuck Schumer from New York, Sen. Bob Casey from Pennsylvania, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal from Connecticut as well as Republicans Sen. Susan Collins from Maine and Sen. John Hoeven from North Dakota. The Senators involved in the legislation hope to see it pass before President Barack Obama’s March 20th visit. At this stage, the official American position regarding Tehran is to continue with negotiation attempts. However, behind closed doors, U.S. officials are reported to have shown Israel contingency plans for military action, in case the Islamic Republic attempts a breakthrough in its nuclear program. This week saw the end of the first round of renewed bilateral talks between Iran and the world powers in Almaty, Kazakhstan. According to the New York Times, in Almaty, the major powers dropped their demand that Iran shut down its underground uranium-enrichment plant at Fordo, and insisted instead that Iran suspend enrichment work there and agree to unspecified conditions that would make it hard to quickly resume production. They also said that Iran could continue to produce and keep a small amount of uranium enriched to 20 percent for use in a research reactor that produces medical isotopes. If Tehran agreed to these steps, the major powers said they would suspend some sanctions against Iran, including trade in gold and petrochemicals, and would not impose new sanctions through the United Nations Security Council and the European Union. The main oil and financial sanctions would not be loosened.