Washington, DC – At a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on “U.S. Strategic Objectives Towards Iran,” U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) condemned Iran as “an extremely dangerous country, which supports terrorists, abuses its own people, and helps Syria abuse its citizens.

“While I appreciate the efforts of the Obama Administration in implementing existing sanctions and working to gather more international support for sanctions against we’ve seen that many in the international community will move slowly or not act without the U.S.  This effort must start with U.S. leadership and only works with U.S. leadership. Time is working against us. The IAEA has clearly found that Iran is proceeding with its plans to acquire a nuclear weapon, and we are on a glide path to an enormously treacherous situation.”

Senator Cardin is a cosponsor of the Menendez-Kirk Iran Sanctions Amendment (#1414) to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (S.1867), which imposes sanctions on all who knowingly do business with the Central Bank of Iran, a critical conduit of international financial transactions for the regime.

“Iran is an extremely dangerous country that is supporting terrorism – at a cost to the American people. We must move rapidly to be effective in cutting off Iran’s ability to acquire nuclear weapons and this amendment both strengthens our hand, while giving us time to conduct diplomatic negotiations with our key allies. Only a more aggressive and comprehensive sanctions strategy, in cooperation with our international partners, will halt the Iranian’s regime continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and human rights abuses of its citizens.”

Senator Cardin is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs.

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