February 16, 2022

Iran is urging US Congress to issue a “political statement” that Washington will stay committed to a possible agreement in Vienna talks to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, which would bind the US to an agreement that has not yet been negotiated.

“This sounds like another Iranian ploy to play for time while they secretly work to obtain a nuclear weapon,” said AMCD Co-Chair Tom Harb. “There is no possibility the US Congress would commit to an agreement they have not seen.”

“There is an easy remedy for this: a formal treaty which could pass the Senate by two thirds vote,” added AMCD Co-Chair John Hajjar. “The founding fathers wisely created such a high bar for passing treaties to prevent our country from being bound to bad agreements. The executive branch cannot put treaties in place without the overwhelming support of the people’s representatives in the Senate.”

“I don’t know what they mean by Congress issuing a political statement,” began AMCD Co-Chair Hossein Khorram. “No such statement would be legally binding on the country and there is no Senator or Congressperson who would sign such a statement before seeing the agreement. It really doesn’t make any sense except to prolong the process and give them time to make advances toward a nuclear weapon.”