Do not rejoin Iran nuclear deal, Republican senators urge US president Joe Biden
- Simply returning to the deal as it stands would be ‘problematic,’ Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez said last week
- The agreement, signed in 2015 by Iran and six world powers including the US, ‘remains riddled with problems,’ said five GOP politicians
Senior Republican senators called on US President Joe Biden to keep the US out of the nuclear deal with Iran, joining some Democrats who have voiced reservations about the agreement.
The agreement, signed in 2015 by Iran and six world powers including the US, “remains riddled with problems” and sets timelines for restrictions on Iranian nuclear activities that “were far too short in the original deal and are unrealistic now,” five GOP politicians said in a letter to Biden released on Sunday.
Those signing the letter were James Inhofe and James Risch, the ranking Republicans on the Senate Armed Forces and Foreign Relations committees, respectively, as well as senators Rob Portman, Pat Toomey and Marco Rubio.
Biden has offered Iran talks on potentially returning to full compliance with the nuclear accord, an overture that has produced little tangible progress since he took office in January. Former President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal in 2018 and pursued a policy of closer engagement with Saudi Arabia, Iran’s main regional adversary.
While Biden’s pledge to explore a US return to the deal was welcomed by allies, including major European economic partners committed to upholding the accord, it’s being questioned even by key Democrats.
Simply returning to the deal as it stands would be “problematic,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez said last week.