Republican Senators Say They Will Not Support New Iran Nuclear Deal

This illustration, taken January 27, 2022, shows the flags of Iran and the United States printed on paper. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

WASHINGTON, March 14 – 49 of 50 Republican U.S. senators said on Monday they would not support the nascent new nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, highlighting their party’s opposition to efforts to revive the 2015 deal amid fears talks could collapse .

Citing press reports of a new deal that has yet to be finalized and could be thwarted by the Russian opposition, the lawmakers said in a statement that Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration could reach an agreement to ease sanctions and ease restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program.

They vowed to do everything in their power to revoke an agreement that does not “completely block” Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons, limit its ballistic missile program, and “counter Iranian support for terrorism.”

Tehran denies ever looking for atomic bombs.

Senator Rand Paul was the only Republican member of the Senate who did not sign Monday’s statement. In an emailed statement, he said: “Deprecating a deal that has not yet been formulated is akin to condemning diplomacy itself, not a very thoughtful position.”

Not a single Republican in Congress backed the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and the major powers, reached under Democratic President Barack Obama, which curtailed Iran’s uranium enrichment program in exchange for lifting international sanctions against Tehran. A handful of Democrats also objected.

The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA) gives Congress the power to renegotiate the agreement, but lawmakers are unlikely to be able to immediately terminate the deal after failing to do so in 2015, when Congress was controlled by Republicans. More

Democrats currently have narrow majorities in both the House and Senate and are unlikely to oppose Biden in sufficient numbers to thwart a major initiative like the Iran deal.

The 2015 agreement made it harder for Tehran to develop materials for nuclear weapons. It collapsed after Republican President Donald Trump left the United States in 2018.

Negotiations resumed after Biden became president last year.

Efforts to strike a new deal were left in limbo after a last-minute demand from Russia, at odds with the West over its invasion of Ukraine, forced the powers to suspend talks in Vienna despite the text being largely ready. More

An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday that Washington needs to make a decision to close the deal.

Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Mark Heinrich

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