WASHINGTON, DC – This week senior Iranian officials notified the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it will jump start its uranium enrichment program -- a key step towards developing nuclear weapons.  Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), co-chair of the House Non-proliferation Task Force made the following statement in response to Iran’s latest threatening statements.

“Last year, Iran launched construction of deep reinforced tunnels to store nuclear materials and technology and in May they boasted that they would initiate uranium enrichment-related activities, today we are once again facing more threats from Iran.  This is a grave development that the Bush Administration appears to be impotent to prevent.  It reflects a steady erosion of U.S. leadership against the spread of nuclear weapons.  The Administration was simply too busy looking for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq -- where there were none – to head off the real, constant nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea that threaten the world today,” said Rep. Markey.

The planned Iranian enrichment-related activities are a direct violation of the understandings negotiated between Iran and France and Britain and Germany. 

Markey continued, “The Bush Administration’s handling of the Iranian threat of nuclear weapons has mirrored its overall nuclear non-proliferation strategy – sloppy, reactive and ineffective.”

Rep. Markey, a long time advocate of sensible non-proliferation policy has been a voice of opposition to the President’s nuclear policy on Iran, North Korea and India. 
 
For more on Rep. Markey’s work on non-proliferation check out http://markey.house.gov

For Immediate Release
January 10, 2006

 CONTACT: Tara McGuinness
202.225.2836