III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 580 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on preventing Iran from acquiring a 

nuclear weapons capability. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 2, 2008 

Mr. BAYH (for himself, Mr. THUNE, and Mr. SMITH) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on preventing Iran from 

acquiring a nuclear weapons capability. 

Whereas Iran is a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at Washington, London, 

and Moscow July 1, 1968, and entered into force March 

5, 1970 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty’’) and, by ratifying the Treaty, has foresworn the acquisition of nuclear weapons; 

Whereas Iran is legally bound to declare all its nuclear activity to the International Atomic Energy Agency and to 

place such activity under the constant monitoring of the 

Agency; 

Whereas for nearly 20 years Iran had a covert nuclear program, until the program was revealed by an opposition 

group in Iran in 2002; 


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•SRES 580 IS 

Whereas the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that the Government of Iran has engaged in such 

covert nuclear activities as the illicit importation of uranium hexafluoride, the construction of a uranium enrichment facility, experimentation with plutonium, the importation of centrifuge technology and the construction of 

centrifuges, and the importation of the design to convert 

highly enriched uranium gas into a metal and to shape 

it into the core of a nuclear weapon, as well as significant 

additional covert nuclear activities; 

Whereas the Government of Iran continues to expand the 

number of centrifuges at its enrichment facility and to 

enrich uranium in defiance of 3 binding United Nations 

Security Council resolutions demanding that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment activities; 

Whereas the Government of Iran has announced its intention 

to begin the installation of 6,000 advanced centrifuges, 

which, when operational, will dramatically reduce the 

time it will take Iran to enrich uranium; 

Whereas the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate reports 

that the Government of Iran was secretly working on the 

design and manufacture of a nuclear warhead until at 

least 2003 and that Iran could have enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon as early as late 

2009; 

Whereas allowing the Government of Iran to obtain a nuclear 

weapons capability would pose a grave threat to international peace and security; 

Whereas allowing the Government of Iran to obtain a nuclear 

weapons capability would fundamentally alter and destabilize the strategic balance of power in the Middle East; 


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•SRES 580 IS 

Whereas, if it were allowed to obtain a nuclear weapons capability, the Government of Iran could share its nuclear 

technology, raising the frightening prospect that terrorist 

groups and rogue regimes might possess nuclear weapons 

capabilities; 

Whereas allowing the Government of Iran to obtain a nuclear 

weapons capability would severely undermine the global 

nuclear nonproliferation regime that, for more than 4 

decades, has contained the spread of nuclear weapons; 

Whereas it is likely that one or more Arab states would respond to Iran obtaining a nuclear weapons capability by 

following Iran’s example, and several Arab states have already announced their intentions to pursue ‘‘peaceful nuclear’’ programs; 

Whereas the spread of nuclear weapons capabilities throughout the Middle East would make the proliferation of nuclear weapons elsewhere around the globe much more 

likely; 

Whereas allowing the Government of Iran to obtain a nuclear 

weapons capability would directly threaten Europe and 

ultimately the United States because Iran already has 

missiles that can reach parts of Europe and is seeking 

to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles; 

Whereas the Government of Iran has repeatedly called for the 

elimination of our ally, Israel; 

Whereas the Government of Iran has advocated that the 

United States withdraw its presence from the Middle 

East; 

Whereas the United Nations Security Council has passed 3 

binding resolutions under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter that impose sanctions on Iran for its failVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:41 Jun 02, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR580.IS SR580

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•SRES 580 IS 

ure to comply with the mandatory demand of the Security Council to suspend all uranium enrichment activity; 

Whereas the United States, the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, France, the United Kingdom, 

and Germany have offered to negotiate a significant 

package of economic, diplomatic, and security incentives 

if Iran complies with the Security Council’s demands to 

suspend uranium enrichment; 

Whereas the Government of Iran has consistently refused 

such offers; 

Whereas, as a result of the failure of the Government of Iran 

to comply with the Security Council resolutions, the 

international community began taking steps in 2006 that 

have begun to have an impact on the economy of Iran, 

but the rapid development of nuclear weapons capabilities 

by the Government of Iran is outpacing the slowly increasing economic and diplomatic sanctions on Iran; 

Whereas the Government of Iran has used its banking system, including the Central Bank of Iran, to support its 

proliferation efforts and to assist terrorist groups; 

Whereas, as a result of that use of Iran’s banking system, 

the Secretary of the Treasury has designated 4 large Iranian banks as proliferators and supporters of terrorism 

and restricted the ability of those banks to conduct international financial transactions in United States dollars; 

and 

Whereas Iran must import around 40 percent of its daily requirements for refined petroleum products: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 


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1 (1) declares that preventing the Government of 

2 Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability, 

3 through all appropriate economic, political, and dip4 lomatic means, is a matter of the highest importance 

5 to the national security of the United States and 

6 must be dealt with urgently; 

7 (2) urges the President, in the strongest of 

8 terms, to immediately use the President’s existing 

9 authority to impose sanctions on— 

10 (A) the Central Bank of Iran and any 

11 other Iranian bank engaged in proliferation ac12 tivities or support of terrorist groups; 

13 (B) international banks that continue to 

14 conduct financial transactions with sanctioned 

15 Iranian banks; 

16 (C) energy companies that have invested 

17 $20,000,000 or more in the petroleum or na18 tional gas sector of the economy of Iran in any 

19 given year since the date of the enactment of 

20 the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public Law 

21 104–172; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note); and 

22 (D) companies that continue to do busi23 ness with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard 

24 Corps of Iran; 


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1 (3) demands that the President lead an inter2 national effort to immediately and dramatically in3 crease the pressure on the Government of Iran to 

4 verifiably suspend its nuclear enrichment activities 

5 by, among other measures, banning the importation 

6 of refined petroleum products to Iran; and 

7 (4) asserts that nothing in this resolution shall 

8 be construed to authorize the use of force against 

9 Iran. 

Æ 


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