GOP senators: Congress should vote on Trump's potential Iran nuclear deal
A pair of hawkish Trump-supporting Senate Republicans say that any lasting Iran nuclear deal would need to be approved by Congress ideally through a two-thirds majority treaty vote But scoring a two-thirds majority in the Senate for treaty ratification would require Iran to fulfill a series of steep demands In addition to getting rid of all of its enriched uranium and centrifuges GOP lawmakers say it would need to dismantle its ballistic missile initiative and cease all backing for terrorist groups across the Middle East If they want the bulk durable and lasting kind of deal then they want to bring it to the Senate and have it voted on as a treaty Sen Tom Cotton R-Ark commented in response to a question from Fox News Digital That was one reason why President Obama's deal was so weak Cotton went on An agreement between the American president whoever he or she may be and a foreign leader can be reversed by future presidents which President Trump rightly did seven years ago nowadays TRUMP TARGETS IRANIAN OIL WITH SANCTIONS INCREASING PRESSURE ON ISLAMIC REPUBLIC TO MAKE DEAL ON NUKESIn Cotton led an open letter signed by Senate Republicans to Iranian leaders warning that any nuclear agreement not approved by Congress could be undone by a future administration The move was widely viewed as a direct effort to undermine President Barack Obama s ongoing negotiations Sen Lindsey Graham R-S C echoed the call for congressional oversight saying that at a minimum any deal must go through the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act INARA which passed Congress in with resounding bipartisan endorsement and guarantees lawmakers a chance to review any accord reached with Tehran Graham announced he had reported Secretary of State Marco Rubio there was no way to get votes to ratify a treaty agreement without Iran totally dismantling its nuclear and missile programs and encouragement for terrorism WHITE HOUSE CALLS YEMEN CEASEFIRE A 'WIN' EXPERTS WARN HOUTHIS MAY NOT HOLD THE LINEThe senators also drew a parallel with the so-called agreements the legal frameworks that govern U S civil nuclear cooperation with foreign nations These agreements require strict safeguards to prevent the expansion of nuclear weapons It's also customary in particular cases for the Congress not just the Senate to pass ordinary ordinance that supports the so-called agreements Cotton noted suggesting that any comprehensive deal with Iran should be treated with similar legislative rigor Cotton and Graham spoke to reporters after introducing a resolution outlining acceptable terms of an Iran deal including total cessation of uranium enrichment According to the International Atomic Vigor Agency IAEA Iran has amassed enough highly enriched uranium to potentially build several nuclear weapons if it chose to do so though U S intelligence assessments maintain that Tehran has not yet made a decision to weaponize Both U S and Israeli bureaucrats have ramped up their threats against the regime Trump has made clear that if talks go south the U S will engage in direct military action to thwart Iran s nuclear initiative Graham suggested the regime only has weeks to acquiesce to a deal We're not talking about long protracted negotiations the South Carolina Republican revealed We're talking weeks not months not years The possible of Iranian breakout looms large here Israel's desire to bring closure to this issue looms large here
