This past week Iranian terrorists planted bombs on the cars of Israeli diplomats in New Delhi, India and Tbilisi, Georgia. The wife of an Israeli official was wounded in the New Delhi blast. Days later a Bangkok home packed with fertilizer and ammonia nitrate exploded. Three Iranian men escaped the blast only to be arrested later. Thai authorities confirmed just today the men were planning to assassinate Israeli officials.
This week’s incidents are further proof the Iranian regime is one of the largest exporters of terror in the world. Furthermore, the regime has unveiled a new generation of centrifuges able to enrich uranium three times as fast as before. Iran now has enough enriched material to produce nuclear weapons if further enriched.
I know I don’t have to go into the details of the devastating results of a nuclear Iran. Israel, Europe and the United States are all on board with passing crippling sanctions against Iran in order to end its nuclear ambition. However, these sanctions need to be tougher and more effective. The European Union’s decision to further ban new petroleum and petroleum product exports from Iran won’t take effect until July 1st of this year. July is too late. The EU needs to move up the effective date on this ban.
Meanwhile, Iranian leaders hosted Hamas Prime Minister in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week. Sitting along side Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Haniyeh addressed a crowd of 30,000 Iranians saying Hamas will “never recognize Israel.” These statements come just one week after Hamas signed an agreement to form a unity government with the Palestinian Authority Fatah party. This new interim Palestinian government is to be presented in Cairo Saturday.
My government has called on the Palestinian Authority time and time again to renounce terrorism, to break with Hamas, and sit down and negotiate directly with Israel. The events of the past two weeks give us a clear picture of the sad direction in which the Palestinians are heading.
In the meantime, we must continue in our own region to emphasize the danger a nuclear Iran will present to the Middle East and all Western countries. Each individual state has the power to pass divestment legislation and add to the increased pressure on Iran. Together we will fight to keep peace in the region and abroad and halt terrorism in its tracks.