GOP Senators Want Power to Veto US Return to Iran Deal

A bill was introduced Friday that would require any future deals with Iran to be approved by the Senate

On Friday, a group of Republican senators introduced a bill that would require President Biden to get the approval of the Senate to return to the Iran nuclear deal or join any future agreements with the Islamic Republic. The move comes as the US and Iran are engaged in indirect negotiations to revive the JCPOA. The talks are set to enter their sixth round on Saturday.

The bill was led by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and was co-sponsored by 22 Republican senators. It would label deals with Iran as treaties, which would require the Senate to approve any agreements with a two-thirds majority.

While the Biden administration is engaged in negotiations with Iran, it is still taking a very hardline approach. Biden refuses to lift all Trump-era sanctions on Iran, and his advisors are signaling a deal might not happen. Regardless of the tough approach, Republican hawks are still slamming Biden for even entertaining the idea of a JCPOA revival.

“It’s clear the Biden administration is in the business of appeasing adversaries like Russia, state sponsors of terrorism like Iran, and Iran’s terrorist proxies like Hamas. Instead of addressing the threats these actors pose, the administration will coddle the Iranian regime and ignore its malign activity throughout the region. Any potential agreement with Iran involves risks that affect our entire nation,” Sen. Johnson said in a statement on the bill.

Johnson’s legislation has a good chance of passing through the Senate and the House, but it would likely fail to get the two-thirds majority needed if Biden vetoes the bill. But it is another sign of the domestic pressure Biden is under not to revive the JCPOA, and it seems less and less likely that the president is willing to take a stand against the hawks on the Iran issue.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.