Looking for ways to defuse the Middle East

Though America must have a strong national defense, armed conflict has to be our last resort, especially when nuclear weapons could be involved.  That is why 131 Members of Congress, including myself, are urging President Obama to engage diplomatically with the new President of Iran to seek an agreement from him not to acquire nuclear weapons.  Dr. Hassan Rouhani was elected on June 14, replacing the confrontationally anti-American leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  “We believe it would be a mistake not to test whether Dr. Rouhani’s election represents a real opportunity for progress toward a verifiable, enforceable agreement ... In order to test this proposition, it will be prudent for the United States to utilize all diplomatic tools to reinvigorate ongoing nuclear talks," our bipartisan letter to President Obama says.  Dr. Rouhani was previously Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator; and he has publicly expressed the view that obtaining a nuclear weapon would run counter to Iran’s strategic interests.  That is a point of view we want to encourage the new President to maintain.