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Pro-Israel Group Publicly Breaks with White House over Iran

(Wall Street Journal) Jay Solomon and Carol E. Lee - The leadership of the most powerful pro-Israel lobby in the U.S. publicly broke Sunday from the White House over the issue of Iran policy during the first of a three-day policy conference in Washington attended by 16,000 of its members. Leaders of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, outlined a strategy moving forward of working through Congress to disrupt any nuclear agreement with Tehran that is deemed too weak in denying the country a nuclear weapons capability. This would be achieved, they said, both by seeking to impose new sanctions on Iran and to block the White House's ability to lift standing U.S. sanctions, which would be required as part of any comprehensive agreement. AIPAC leaders believe any final agreement with Iran must involve the complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear infrastructure, something Obama administration officials have said is no longer on the negotiating table. AIPAC also is seeking to impose new sanctions on Iran if there is no agreement by a late March deadline and to legislate an up-or-down vote in Congress. The White House is opposing both legislative actions. Howard Kohr, AIPAC's executive director, said, "We shouldn't be afraid of Iran leaving the table." He also aggressively pushed back against the White House's argument in recent months that no deal with Iran would lead to war. "That's a false choice...that's meant to silence the critics," Kohr said. "And we won't be silenced."
2015-03-02 00:00:00
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