The letter was published in the Wall Street Journal on 24 January 2014 and is available here.

British Notables Support the Provisional Iran Accord

The plan is a step toward a negotiated solution to the problems raised by Iran’s nuclear program and a step away from the risks of a further conflict in the Middle East

We strongly welcome and support the agreement with Iran reached in November and the recently announced implementation of the Joint Plan of Action (“Iranian Nuclear Accord Advances,” page one, Jan. 13). The plan is a step toward a negotiated solution to the problems raised by Iran’s nuclear program and a step away from the risks of a further conflict in the Middle East, which would be seriously damaging to all.

We trust that all parties will now work expeditiously and in good faith to reach a comprehensive deal that will secure a credible and verifiable set of arrangements for the civil nuclear industry in Iran precluding any capacity or intention to develop a nuclear-weapons program. While that negotiation is under way, we urge that no steps be taken either by Iran or by the other parties to the interim agreement that might jeopardize a successful outcome.

We recognize and respect Israel’s security concerns as well as those of other countries in the region, but we believe that those concerns will best be met by international arrangements that are consistent with Iran’s rights and obligations as a nonnuclear weapon state under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and over time, by the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.

Signed by:

• Des Browne, Peer, former UK Defence Secretary.
• John Stanley MP, UK Chairman of the Committees on Arms Export Controls.
• Alistair Burt MP, former UK Parliamentary Undersecretary at the FCO
• Nick Harvey MP, former Uk Minister of State for the Armed Forces.
• Margaret Beckett MP, former Uk Foreign Secretary.
• Bob Ainsworth MP, former UK Defence Secretary
• Menzies Campbell MP, Member of the UK’s Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
• David Hannay, Peer, former British Permanent Representative to the UN.
• Mike Boyce, Peer, former British First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy.
• Charles Guthrie, Peer, former UK Chief of the Defence Staff.
• Douglas Hurd, Peer, former UK Foreign Secretary.
• John Kerr, Peer, former British Ambassador to the US and the EU.
• Tom King, Peer, former UK Defence Secretary.
• David Owen, former UK Foreign Secretary.
• David Ramsbotham, Peer, former British Adjutant General and ADC General to HMQ.

London.

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All signatories are members of the Top Level Group of U.K. Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation, which is administered and supported by the ELN.

The opinions articulated above represent the views of the signatories, and do not necessarily reflect the position of the European Leadership Network or any of its other members. The ELN’s aim is to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security challenges of our time.