Republicans Warn Biden Not To Bypass Congress In Any Iran Deal
Republican senators warned President Joe Biden Monday that they would work to thwart any new Iran deal if he did not allow Congress to review and vote on it.
Led by Senator Ted Cruz, a long-time opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal, the senators told Biden in a letter dated Monday that they would use "the full range of options and leverage available" to ensure that his government adhered to US laws governing any new accord with Iran.
Republican lawmakers have been warning Biden from the early days of his administration when he criticized his predecessor’s decision to pull out of the Joint Comprehensive plan of Action (JCPOA) and begin talks with Iran to restore the agreement.
Republicans have argued that the JCPOA was a weak arrangement that did not prevent Iran from ultimately acquiring nuclear weapons and did not cover other issues, such as Tehran’s ballistic missiles and its aggressive regional policies. They have also argued that restoring the JCPOA would mean lifting tough economic sanctions and providing a lifeline to the Islamic Republic, which is in an economic crisis since Trump imposed sanctions.
Last week, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez (D-NJ) was the first senior Democrat to express his opposition to Biden’s Iran policy in a long speech on the Senate floor.
Menendez and republicans asked the administration to inform Congress about the talks with Iran. US Special Envoy for Iran and chief negotiator Rob Malley will reportedly brief the House of Representatives on Tuesday and the Senate on Wednesday via video link.
Indirect talks in Vienna between Iran and the United States on reviving the 2015 agreement are due to resume on Tuesday. Talk of a possible agreement has driven oil prices lower, with markets anticipating that the possible removal of sanctions on Iranian oil sales could boost global supplies.
Iran later breached many of the deal's nuclear restrictions and kept pushing well beyond them.
Cruz and other senior Republican senators told Biden that implementation of any new deal would be "severely, if not terminally hampered" if he did not meet statutory obligations aimed at ensuring congressional oversight over revisions or changes to the 2015 Iran nuclear accord.
They provided no details about their plans, but Republicans have used various tactics to slow down other legislation or put holds on Biden's nominees, including many for ambassador posts.
Democrats control the 50-50 Senate only by virtue of a tie-breaking vote that can be cast by Vice President Kamala Harris, but they could lose control of the Senate and the House of Representatives in mid-term elections later this year.
The senators said any nuclear agreement with Iran was of "such gravity for U.S. national security" that it would by definition be a treaty requiring the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate, they argued.
Any deal that fell short of Senate-ratified treaty would "likely be torn up in the early days of the next presidential administration," they added, anticipating a Republican victory in the 2024 presidential race.
In addition, they noted that a 2015 law passed before completion of the initial nuclear deal requires that any new “agreement” related to Iran’s nuclear program to be transmitted to Congress for a 60-day review period during which Congress could pass a joint resolution of disapproval that would essentially prevent the deal from going into effect.
It said those mandates would be triggered by Iran's progress toward developing a nuclear weapon over the past year, which would require new oversight measures.
With reporting by Reuters
