Hawkish US senators introduce new Iran legislation

US Senators Robert Menendez (R) and Lindsey Graham speak to reporters. (File photo)

A group of US senators has introduced a bill that would allow a congressional review of any deal with Iran over its nuclear enrichment program.

The legislation would require President Barack Obama to submit the text of any deal to Congress and would ban the White House from lifting any sanctions for a period of 60 days so that Congress could hold hearings and debate the deal.

The notion dubbed the "Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015" was introduced on Friday by Senators Bob Corker, Robert Menendez, Lindsey Graham and Tim Kaine.

Sens. John McCain, Joe Donnelly, Marco Rubio, Heidi Heitkamp, Kelly Ayotte, Bill Nelson, Jim Risch, and Angus King co-sponsored the bill.

“There are few national security priorities for our country more important than” Iran deal, Corker said, adding any agreement “must include Congress having a say on the front end."

Menendez said, “As we enter the final weeks of negotiations, Congress is rightly pursuing a dual track approach to the Iran nuclear issue and applying responsible pressure on Iran to ensure the right outcome is reached at these talks."

Senator Graham described the stakes of the ongoing negotiations with Iran as important to the US national security in such way that Congress should review and vote on any deal before it becomes binding.

It is not yet known when the bill would come to a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The legislation is seen as a challenge to Obama’s authority over a possible deal with Tehran.

Nuclear talks between representatives from Iran and the United States started on February 22 in the Swiss city of Geneva and the two sides held three rounds of talks in two days in an attempt to narrow differences ahead of a key July 1 deadline for reaching a comprehensive deal.

Both the Iranian and US top diplomats said some progress was made toward a final agreement.

AT/GJH


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