For much of the past decade, Iran's nuclear weapons development program has been one of the top national security concerns for the United States. Even as we fought wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and hunted down al Qaeda's leaders, American intelligence officers, military and top diplomats have been working round the clock to prevent Iran from developing the bomb. An Iran armed with nuclear weapons, capable of threatening Israel and other regional states, would touch off a nuclear arms race in the world's most volatile region. It would be an unmitigated disaster. We must make all efforts to prevent this.
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Rep. Adam Schiff: Iran's nuclear program has been a top national security concern for 10 years
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Schiff:  Escalating sanctions were meant to force Iran into a deal, and Iran is at the table
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He says another round of sanctions could derail negotiations and is unnecessary
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Schiff: We must seize this chance; if it fails, there would be no doubt we tried diplomatically
This is not an illusory concern, and for this reason, any partial lifting of the freeze on Iranian assets must be quickly reversible if the @placeholder balk on a final deal.