Forty-three senators sent a letter to the White House on Wednesday night warning President Obama not to bypass Congress as the administration nears the deadline for a nuclear deal with Iran.
The letter heralds the stiff opposition that Obama will face from the new Republican-majority Senate if his administration signs a deal with Iran next week – one they consider bad.
Major world powers are in Vienna this week negotiating with Iran to try to reach a deal that would stop the country from developing nuclear weapons.
The administration has been looking for ways that it could bypass Congress if a deal is struck.
“We have watched with concern as your administration has hinted at ‘creative solutions’ that abandon the clear requirements of U.N. Security Council Resolutions, and shifted course away from essential requirements Congress has stressed in order to meet Iran’s unreasonable demands,” Rubio and Kirk write in the letter.
“Your negotiators appear to have disregarded clear expressions from the Senate emphasizing the need for a multi-decade agreement requiring Iran to fully suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities, to dismantle its illicit nuclear infrastructure, and completely disclose its past work on nuclear weaponization.”
“The Senate enjoys a broad consensus for continuing to increase the pressure on Iran, as evidenced by the bipartisan support for the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013 (S.1881),” the letter states.
“We urge your administration to cease efforts to circumvent Congress and work with us on a smarter approach that will decisively end Iran’s nuclear threat,” Rubio and Kirk write.
“Unless the White House genuinely engages with Congress, we see no way that any agreement consisting of your administration’s current proposals to Iran will endure in the 114th Congress and after your presidential term ends.”
