Iran continues to race towards a nuclear weapons capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has determined that Iran has produced enough low enriched uranium to produce two nuclear weapons if it further enriched that material to weapons-grade level.  Iran has compounded its defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions by denying the IAEA access to critical Iranian facilities and accurate information about its nuclear program.

For more than 15 years, the United States has played a central role in international efforts to stop Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. Since 1992, Congress has passed some 20 bills and resolutions sanctioning and condemning the regime for its support of terrorism and its nuclear weapons pursuit.

It is vital for the United States and our allies to undergird any diplomatic approach to Iran with more robust economic, diplomatic and political sanctions to persuade Iran to end its illicit activity.

In addition to its pursuit of nuclear weapons, Iran also provides key material support to terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, including Hamas, Hizballah and Islamic Jihad. The State Department has repeatedly labeled Iran the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.

Iran has advanced its terrorist ambitions with the help of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an elite arm of Iran's military which arms, funds and trains terrorist networks from Gaza to Afghanistan. At the same time, Iran's leaders continue to issue incendiary statements calling for the destruction of the State of Israel.