President Joe Biden has been weak on the world stage: Afghanistan, Russia, China —now, Iran. The Drill Down previously reported on the disastrous state of the nuclear deal talks, with many top U.S. negotiators leaving the table due to the gelatinous spine of the Biden admin.
As a reminder…
A little over a month ago the Wall Street Journal reported that, “Some members of the U.S. team have left or stepped back after urging a tougher approach in talks on Iran’s nuclear program,” and “among the issues that have divided the team are how firmly to enforce existing sanctions and whether to cut off negotiations…”
After the U.S. threw its hands up in frustration, Russia took the reins, giving Iran a sweetheart deal —but now that’s fallen apart. as well.
Reuters reports “Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unexpectedly demanded sweeping guarantees that Russian trade with Iran would not be affected by sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine – a demand Western powers say is unacceptable and Washington has insisted it will not agree to.”
So they announced a deal was nearly done, albeit a terrible one, and it fell apart. That’s actually good…
Now, forty-nine Senate Republicans are stepping up, threatening to block any deal that doesn’t have bipartisan support in Congress. On Monday, the senators delivered a statement to the White House reinforcing that any new agreement that “does not have strong bipartisan support in Congress will not survive” and they will do “everything in [their] power to reverse it.”
“The administration has thus far refused to commit to submit a new Iran deal to the Senate for ratification as a treaty, as per its constitutional obligation, or for review under statutory requirements that passed on a bipartisan basis in response to the 2015 deal,” the senators said, according to a copy of the statement obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. “Additionally, despite earlier promises to the contrary, the administration has failed to adequately consult with Congress.” Every GOP senator except Rand Paul (Ky.) signed the statement, signaling unity in opposing a new deal, WFB reports.
“Unless Iran ceases its support for terrorism, we will oppose removing and seek to reimpose any terrorism-related sanctions,” the Senators wrote. “And we will force the Senate to vote on any administration effort to do so.”
200 House Republicans have signed a similar letter expressing their concerns.
The U.S. must show strength at the negotiating table. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has, thus proven its incapable.
