A measure in the Senate would require the Biden administration to obtain congressional approval before inking a deal with Iran, according to a copy of the draft amendment obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
The amendment would establish a significant roadblock in the Biden administration's bid to reenter the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The Republican-backed amendment would prevent the Biden administration from signing any new deal without Senate approval.
With the body divided along party lines, it is likely the amendment will be broadly supported by the GOP and opposed by Democrats.
The amendment is being spearheaded by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and is cosponsored by James Risch (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and John Barrasso (R-WY).
The measure is among the first tangible attempts by Senate Republicans to stop the Biden administration from reentering the Iran nuclear deal, which former President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018.
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal in response to Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement.
It has continued to do so as the US began indirect talks with Iran on a return to compliance with the agreement.
The talks in Vienna have involved diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran and Russia who met the Iranian representatives, while US diplomats participated indirectly in the talks from a nearby hotel.
The US and European Union both said recently that more work was needed to revive the 2015 deal, while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the "negotiations have achieved 60-70 percent progress."
While it is unlikely that any Democrats will support the Republican effort, several Democrats, including Senators Ben Cardin (MD), Joe Manchin (WV), and Bob Menendez (NJ), broke ranks with the Obama administration in 2015 to oppose the accord, noted the Free Beacon.
"Our adversaries understand the Biden administration will chart the same weak and disastrous course as President Obama," Johnson said in a statement to the Washington Free Beacon. "It's clear the Biden administration is in the business of appeasing adversaries like Russia, state sponsors of terrorism like Iran, and its terrorist proxies like Hamas. Instead of addressing the threats these actors pose, the administration will coddle the Iranian regime and ignore its malign activity throughout the region."
For that reason, Johnson said, "it is critical to the security of America and to world peace that any deal Biden negotiates with Iran be deemed a treaty requiring ratification by the US Senate."