The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) released the following statement on Tuesday in response to the Iran nuclear deal announced earlier in the day: 

The threat of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons is a matter of the gravest concern and utmost urgency to the entire world. The St. Louis Jewish Community Relations Council believes that it is critical that the world stay focused on the ultimate goal: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The agreement regarding Iran’s nuclear program, announced today, will be subject to intense scrutiny and debate in the days to come. This provides a critical period to examine the agreement and ensure that it has the necessary rigorous inspection and compliance components, before final approval and implementation.

We are hopeful that diplomatic efforts will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.  We recognize the hard work that President Obama, Secretary of State Kerry, and Under Secretary of State Sherman and their team have put into crafting this agreement. 

However, Iran is not a country that is deserving of our trust. It has continually violated the human rights of its people, funded terrorist organizations, threatened annihilation of Israel, worked to destabilize neighboring countries in the region and supported Holocaust denial. Therefore, it is understandable why a broad cross section of the Israeli public and its leadership – as well as many in this country – remain deeply concerned about the agreement.

The United States, the European Union, the United Nations – particularly the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council – and the broader community of nations must each work to provide the necessary resources, structures, and capabilities that are required to ensure Iran’s full compliance with an agreement. The diplomatic and economic pressures applied by these bodies in coalition were successful in bringing Iran to the table to negotiate. The same concerted effort must be used to ensure that Iran will never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.