Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is demanding six world powers and Iran to produce a single outline of the framework agreement reached over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“While there appears to be consensus that some agreement was reached … there is no consensus on the actual parameters of that agreement — including such critical items as the scope of Iran’s ongoing nuclear program, the extent of the [International Atomic Energy Agency] verification regime, and the schedule for nuclear-related sanctions relief by both the United States and the international community,” Cruz, a 2016 presidential contender, wrote Friday in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry.
{mosads}Therefore, Iran and the United States, France, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and Germany — the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) — should “make public a joint framework agreement outlining the parameters that have been agreed upon, and those that will be addressed in the event negotiations continue in both classified and unclassified form,” he argued.
The missive is the latest sign GOP lawmakers remain skeptical of the interim deal, following comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others contending a State Department-issued fact sheet misrepresented what was agreed to.
The document also comes days after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved legislation that would let Congress review the accord if negotiators strike a bargain by the June 30 deadline.
Earlier Friday, President Obama said the measure wouldn’t “derail” talks between world powers and Tehran.
In his letter, Cruz again raised the possibility Congress could junk any agreement once Obama leaves office in 2017, an action 47 GOP senators threatened last month in an open letter to Iranian officials.
“As you know, absent Congressional approval in the form of Senate ratification as a treaty or passage into law by both Houses, any agreement the Obama administration reaches with Iran will not be binding on future administrations,” he wrote.
Cruz told Kerry he is ready to “engage in this vital work, and in order to do it responsibly, it is imperative that Members of Congress have clarity on whatever is actually in this framework” and that the information should be shared with the American public.