WASHINGTON – On Fox News Sunday, U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Congress should hold the Obama administration’s “feet to the fire” over the interim deal with Iran to ensure it does not become a final agreement. He also raised concerns about the interim deal granting tacit approval for Iran to continue enriching uranium, which violates six U.N. Security Council resolutions.
“Iran has consolidated their gains and have sanctions relief. I think all of us want to see a diplomatic solution here. I think it’s now time for Congress to weigh in because I think people are very concerned that the interim deal becomes the norm, and that’s why I’ve crafted legislation to hold the administration and the international community's feet to the fire over the next six months to ensure that this interim deal is not the norm. But look, I think we all greet it with skepticism,” said Corker.
“We see where they state in the preamble, there will be a mutually defined enrichment program…[so] it looks like we’ve tacitly agreed that they will be enriching for commercial purposes down the road. So I think you’re going to see on Capitol Hill…a bipartisan effort to try to make sure that this is not the final agreement because people know this administration is…very long on announcements, but very short on follow-through.”
On Thursday, Corker introduced legislation to keep the pressure on Iran during the negotiations and prevent an interim deal from becoming the final deal. The Iran Nuclear Compliance Act of 2013, consistent with Iran’s existing obligations under the U.N. Security Council, requires Iran to fully comply with any interim deal and meet a series of conditions for an acceptable final agreement before the president of the United States could waive additional sanctions. All sanctions would be restored in the event Iran violates the terms of the interim or final agreement.
Text of the legislation and a summary are available here.
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