WASHINGTON — Democrats in the White House and Congress accused 47 Republican senators of undermining President Barack Obama in international talks to curb Iran’s nuclear program, saying that trying to upend diplomatic negotiations was tantamount to rushing into war with Tehran.
“The decision to undercut our president and circumvent our constitutional system offends me as a matter of principle,” Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement.
In an open letter Monday to the leaders of Iran, the Republican senators warned that any nuclear deal the Iranians cut with Obama could expire the day he leaves the White House. The letter was an aggressive attempt to make it more difficult for Obama and five world powers to strike an initial agreement by the end of March to limit Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes.
“I think it’s somewhat ironic that some members of Congress want to make common cause with the hard-liners in Iran,” Obama said, referring to conservative Iranians who also are leery of, or downright against, the negotiations. “It’s an unusual coalition.”
The letter, written by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, was addressed to the “Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and presents itself as a constitutional primer to the government of an American adversary. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ‘s signature is on it, as are those of several prospective presidential candidates such as Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio.
Explaining the difference between a Senate-ratified treaty and a mere agreement between Obama and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the senators warned, “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.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif responded via state media and twitter, dismissing the letter as a “propaganda ploy” and noting that many international deals are “mere executive agreements.” He suggested the senators were undermining not only the prospective deal with Iran but other international agreements as well.
Biden said, “In thirty-six years in the United States Senate, I cannot recall another instance in which senators wrote directly to advise another country — much less a longtime foreign adversary — that the president does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them.”
Not all Republican senators are united. One significant signature missing from Monday’s letter was that of Sen. Bob Corker. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said he wants to focus on a bipartisan effort that can generate a deal.
Negotiating alongside the U.S. are Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. Nuclear negotiations resume next week in Switzerland.
Officials say the parties have been speaking about a multi-step agreement that would freeze Iran’s uranium enrichment program for at least a decade before gradually lifting restrictions. Sanctions relief would similarly be phased in.
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