Senators Unite on Pressuring Iran Uniting in response to a string of aggressive gestures from Iran, a bipartisan collection of senators gathered Thursday to send a clear message to Tehran as it seeks to gain nuclear capability. "You have only two choices: peacefully negotiate to end your nuclear weapons program, or expect a military strike to disable that program," Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut and chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said. Introducing a resolution with 32 sponsors endorsing continued economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran, eight senators expressed their broad support for efforts by the United States to end Iran's march toward expanding its nuclear program. Expressing a sentiment rarely uttered by Republicans these days, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said he and the other senators stand behind President Obama on this issue. During his State of the Union address last month, Mr. Obama said that he wouldn't eliminate any options on pressuring Iran. "All I can say is, we've found something we're united about," Mr. Graham said. The senators were careful to note that the resolution was not an authorization of force, but said that Mr. Obama would receive bipartisan support should he decide that a military strike was necessary. Mr. Lieberman said thjat if the United States decided to use force, he envisioned a targeted strike aimed at crippling Iran's ability to build nuclear weapons. "To me, this is about disabling the Iranian nuclear weapons program," Mr. Lieberman told reporters. It's not in this instance about a military strike to overthrow the regime, and it's something that will be done without ground forces, but really more from the air. The lawmakers said they had not abandoned hope for a peaceful resolution. Responding to comments President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made on Wednesday, Mr. Graham said he believed that sanctions were "beginning to bite." "The best way for Iran to survive is to abandon nuclear weapon ambitions and become a productive member of the family of nations," he said. I think that is still possible through economic and diplomatic means.