The Obama administration reaffirmed Wednesday that it doesn’t need Congressional approval for a nuclear deal with Iran.
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Congress voting down the diplomatic initiative would sap presidential authority, and that even the possibility of a vote could call into question the sincerity of US negotiators.
“There’s a concern that this could set a precedent for future executive branch action,” Blinken said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
“The knowledge that there would be, very early on, this kind of vote, in our judgment, could undermine the credibility of the commitments we would make in the context of negotiations,” he added.
Blinken stated that a deal arising from the so-called on-going Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) would merely suspend sanctions, and that Congress eventually will have the final say on ending them.
“Giving the Iranians time to demonstrate to you, and to us, that they’re making good on their commitments would make sense,” he said, noting many in Congress who now support negotiations were initially quite skeptical.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is proposing legislation that would require legislative approval for the deal, said Congress could vote on removing waivers that allow the Obama administration to temporarily tweak the sanctions regime. It is unclear whether that proposal would garner enough support for a veto-proof majority in the Senate.
In addition to opposing Corker’s bill for requiring a vote, Blinken also said the administration takes issue with provisions that rule out further JPOA extensions.
Blinken also voiced strong opposition to “trigger” legislation drafted by Sens. Mark Kirk (R-Ill) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.). The bill would impose more sanctions on Iran if an agreement is not reached by June 30. Blinken said that additional posturing by Congress could cause international partners to lose interest in maintaining sanctions, and that their effectiveness would consequently be hindered.
“Up until now, we’ve kept other countries on board–despite it being against their economic interest–in large part because we’ve demonstrated we are serious about trying to reach a diplomatic solution,” Blinken said in his opening statement. “If they lose that conviction, the United States, not Iran, would be isolated.”
Last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke to Corker, noting he had similar concerns.
The hearing was also noteworthy for remarks made by Sen. Menendez. The ranking member and former committee chair said that “the more I hear from the administration and its quotes, the more it sounds like talking points coming straight out of Tehran.”
Menendez added that Iran has had “an illicit nuclear weapons program, going back over the course of 20 years, that they are unwilling to come clean on” – a remark that is inconsistent with the vast majority of intelligence estimates.
The remark could have been made in retaliation for a dispute Menendez and President Obama were reported to have last week. At a Senate Democratic caucus conference in Baltimore, President Obama is reported to have warned against approving additional sanctions. According to The New York Times, the president “understood the pressures that senators face from donors and others, but he urged the lawmakers to take the long view rather than make a move for short-term political gain.” Sen. Menendez took offense, the paper reported, noting in similar language he used in Wednesday’s hearing that he “had worked for more than 20 years to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and had always been focused on the long-term implications.”
However, conclusions about Iran’s nuclear program have, for decades, been marred by questionable analysis. In 1992, Israeli officials, including current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then a legislator, said that Iran would have nuclear weapons by the end of the century.
While there is much talk about Iran’s nuclear program potentially starting an arms race in the Middle East, Israel is currently the only country in the region with a nuclear weapons program–one that is clandestine.
