NCRI – The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has written to President Barack Obama warning him that his “breathtaking” concessions to the Iranian regime in international negotiations over its nuclear program risk bringing about a “bad deal.”
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said in the letter sent on Monday: “It is breathtaking to see how far from your original goals and statements the P5+1 have come during negotiations with Iran,” referring to the group of world powers that includes the U.S., the United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia plus Germany.
Corker said negotiators “have moved” from trying to strike a 20-year agreement, to a 10-year one and seem ready to let Tehran continue to develop its ballistic missile effort and maintain research and development for advanced nuclear centrifuges.
“I understand the dynamics that can develop when a group believes they are close to a deal and how your aides may view this as a major legacy accomplishment. However, as you know, the stakes here are incredibly high and the security implications of these negotiations are difficult to overstate,” Corker warned.
He asked Obama to “please pause and consider rethinking the entire approach. Walking away from a bad deal at this point would take courage, but it would be the best thing for the United States, the region and the world.”
The P5+1 hope to strike a deal with the Iranian regime by June 30 that would curtail Tehran’s nuclear effort in exchange for sanctions relief.
In his letter, Corker said he was “alarmed” by reports that the U.S. “may be considering allowing the deal to erode further,” including over how much access the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog should have to Iranian nuclear sites.
“Regarding inspections, surely your administration and those involved in the negotiations will adhere to an ‘anytime, anywhere’ standard. No bureaucratic committees. No moving the ball. No sites off limits.”
Corker also expressed concern envoys might not push to have Tehran disclose its past nuclear activities, including those associated with the military.
“By not requiring Iran to explicitly disclose their previous weaponization efforts on the front end of any final agreement, we will likely never know, in a timely fashion, the full extent of Iranian capabilities,” the letter said.
Last month, Obama signed into law a bill that gives Congress 30 days to disapprove any final deal, during which he could not lift congressional sanctions on Iran.
If Congress votes to reject the deal, the administration would have 12 days to veto the resolution of disapproval. Congress would then have 10 extra days to try to override the veto.
