U.S. Republican senators warn Iran against potential nuclear deal
Xinhua, March 9, 2015 Adjust font size:
Forty-seven U.S. Republican senators warned on Monday that a deal over Iran's nuclear program will be at risk once President Barack Obama leaves office, U.S. media reported.
"It has come to our attention while observing your nuclear negotiations with our government that you may not fully understand our constitutional system...Anything not approved by Congress is a mere executive agreement," the senators wrote in an open letter to Iranian leaders.
"The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time,"the letter read, according to Bloomberg News..
The letter, organized by Senator Tom Cotton and signed by the chamber's entire party leadership, is meant not just to discourage Tehran from signing a deal but also to pressure the White House into giving Congress some authority over the process, said Bloomberg News.
Many members of Congress are concerned that the Obama administration will sign off on a deal that is not strict enough, or that only delays Iran's ability to get a nuclear weapon.
The P5+1 group (the U.S., Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany) is negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program in hopes of reaching a framework deal by the end of the month. The deal would likely include Iran cutting back its nuclear program -- reportedly for at least ten years -- in exchange for a loosening of crippling economic sanctions.
U.S. media reported last year that the White House was going to try to avoid having to seek congressional approval for the deal.
On Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell warned Obama not to agree on an unsatisfactory deal over Iran's nuclear program.
"Obviously, the president doesn't want us involved in this. But he's going to need us if he's going to lift any of the existing sanctions. And so I think he cannot work around Congress forever," McConnell said in an interview aired on CBS' "Face the Nation." Endi