Republican lawmakers oppose Iranian Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

A group of 49 Republican Senators recently expressed to President Joe Biden they are not in favor of the revived Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran.

“According to press reports, the Biden Administration may soon conclude an agreement with Iran to provide substantial sanctions relief in exchange for merely short-term limitations on Iran’s nuclear program,” the legislators said. “By every indication, the Biden Administration appears to have given away the store. The administration appears to have agreed to lift sanctions that were not even placed on Iran for its nuclear activities in the first place, but instead because of its ongoing support for terrorism and its gross abuses of human rights.”

The nuclear limitations in the agreement appear to be less restrictive than the 2015 nuclear deal and maintain it will undermine the nation’s leverage to secure a longer and stronger agreement.

“Republicans have made it clear: We would be willing and eager to support an Iran policy that completely blocks Iran’s path to a nuclear weapons capability, constrains Iran’s ballistic missile program, and confronts Iran’s support for terrorism,” the legislators said. “But if the administration agrees to a deal that fails to achieve these objectives or makes achieving them more difficult, Republicans will do everything in our power to reverse it. Unless Iran ceases its support for terrorism, we will oppose removing and seek to reimpose any terrorism-related sanctions. And we will force the Senate to vote on any Administration effort to do so.”

The lawmakers said a major agreement that does not have strong bipartisan support in Congress will not survive.