Top US Republicans urge Blinken to ensure congressional review of 'nuclear deal' with Iran

US Representative Michael McCaul, the top-ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has led the committee Republicans in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, calling on President Joe Biden's administration to provide Congress with an opportunity to assess any "nuclear agreement" with Iran.

The lawmakers said, “Any prospective agreement related to the nuclear program of Iran that commits the United States to action clearly constitutes a new agreement that must be transmitted to Congress for review pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 2160e.”

“We look forward to the opportunity to review any such agreement, to ensure that it addresses the nuclear and other threats that Iran poses to the United States and our allies and partners,” read the letter.

Envoys from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries — Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — have held the sixth round of the talks in Vienna aimed at lifting US sanctions, revitalizing the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, and bringing the US back to compliance.

An American delegation is also in the Austrian capital, however, it is not attending the negotiations because the United States is not a party to the landmark nuclear agreement.

The top Republicans told the Biden administration that, "As US negotiators continue discussions in Vienna regarding Iran’s nuclear program, we are writing to remind you of the Administration’s statutory obligations to provide Congress with an opportunity to review and assess any nuclear agreement that you reach with Iran."

The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (“INARA”), codified at 42 U.S.C. 2160e, requires the US president to submit to Congress within five days any nuclear agreement reached with Iran, as well as a detailed verification assessment report and certification, they said.

The law was enacted with bipartisan support to ensure congressional oversight of US policy regarding Iran’s nuclear program. 

The Republicans also brought up what they called Iran's "violations" of the nuclear deal, saying  Iran’s nuclear program has been “galloping forward” since US withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018.

Tehran took some remedial measures in retaliation for Washington’ unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-imposition of sanctions. Iran, however, stressed that it will stop the measures only after the removal of all the US sanctions imposed, re-imposed or re-labeled and its full and prompt verification of the [removal].

"Even if Iran were to relinquish all of the physical fruits of its violations – such as noncompliant centrifuges and nuclear materials – it cannot unlearn the technical capacity and knowledge that it has gleaned from the prohibited nuclear activities it has undertaken," the Republicans' letter added. 

"Given these material changes in the strategic context, any prospective agreement related to the nuclear program of Iran that commits the United States to action clearly constitutes a new agreement that must be transmitted to Congress for review pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 2160e."

Iran top negotiator: We need to have a good deal to address our key concerns, meet our key objectives

Iran’s top negotiator in the Vienna talks on the JCPOA revival says the Iranian delegation seeks a good deal that will address Tehran’s key concerns.

The Obama administration never brought the Iran deal before Congress for a vote when it was reached in 2015, fearing that it could not pass. The Trump administration could easily scrap the agreement in 2018 as it was never formally ratified.

On Saturday, Iran’s top nuclear negotiator said that talks in Vienna between Tehran and other signatories to the nuclear deal on a potential revival of the agreement are unlikely to conclude this week.

Araqchi stressed that the United States must take the first step, and fulfill all its obligations first.

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