NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP) -- The head of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission says the West should be wary of any commitment by Iran to reduce its ability to build nuclear weapons.

"Iran has a long history of not living up to its end of a deal," ERLC President Richard Land said of a U.N.-drafted proposal that would transfer nearly 80 percent of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium out of the country. Iran is still considering the plan -- already endorsed by the United States, Russia and France -- to ship uranium to Russia to be enriched for fuel.

The move would slow down any secret ambition by Iran to build a nuclear bomb but allow it to move forward with peaceful uses like nuclear power and medical isotopes.

Supporters of the plan say it would signal a new transparency about Iran's nuclear program and rekindle talks with the Obama administration marred by Tehran's recent disclosure of a previously unknown nuclear reactor.

Richard Land has described Iran's president as "the potential Hitler of the 21st century."

Rejection by Iran, on the other hand, would make it easier for the United States to make its case for tough sanctions against the nation. So far, Russia and China have been skeptical of such tactics.

Iranian state television said Oct. 27 that leaders agree on the "general framework" of the plan but would seek "important changes."

International observers say the proposal could be a hard sell in Iran, with leaders reluctant to give up control over their nuclear stockpile and hardliners viewing it as capitulation to the West.

Iran insists its nuclear program is intended only for peaceful uses, but has been sanctioned by the U.N. for refusing to suspend its uranium-enrichment program. Iran has operated a U.S.-built research reactor in Tehran since the 1960s.

An ally of Iran during most of the Cold War, the United States also provided the Iranian shah with weapons-grade uranium needed to power the facility. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the shah, Iran has obtained nuclear aid from various sources, including Russia, China and the black market.

U.N. inspectors got their first look Oct. 25 at a once-secret uranium-enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom that raised new suspicions about the extent of Iran's nuclear program.

Land, one of over 50 signers of a recent letter sent to Congress calling for stronger action to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, said any deal with Iran's leadership should follow Ronald Reagan's policy of "trust but verify."

"In Iran's case, it's trust but verify on steroids," Land said in a press release from Christians for a Nuclear-Free Iran, a group of religious leaders including Pat Robertson of Christian Broadcasting Network, Charles Colson of Prison Fellowship, mega-church pastor John Hagee, Southern Baptist Convention president Johnny Hunt and former SBC president James Merritt.

Land, the SBC's top official for moral, social and public-policy concerns, has been strongly critical of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for remarks threatening to Israel and denying the Holocaust.

On his weekly radio program Oct. 24, Land criticized the Obama administration for its fixation with "negotiating with the thugs in Tehran" while reducing support for democratic protestors of Ahmadinejad's regime.

"They are cutting the legs from under Iranian dissidents around the world in order not to have them interfere with a nuclear deal that will stink to high heaven from the Obama administration," Land said.

In September Land described Iran's president as "the potential Hitler of the 21st century."

That was before Land got in hot water for quoted remarks comparing Democratic health-care plans before Congress to Nazi euthanasia panels during the Holocaust.

After apologizing to Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, Land issued a statement of regret for "imprecise language" but indicated he has no plans to stop drawing parallels between underlying philosophies held by Germans in the first half of the 20th century and health-care-reform debate today. 

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This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.

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