UN vote on Iran deal disappoints House leaders

The leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Monday they are disappointed that the Iran nuclear deal was submitted to the United Nations Security Council for a vote before Congress had a chance to review it.  

“We are disappointed that the UN Security Council passed a resolution on Iran this morning before Congress was able to fully review and act on this agreement,” said the panel’s chairman, Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), and its ranking member, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), in a joint statement. 

{mosads}”We are also greatly concerned that the resolution lifts restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missiles in eight years and conventional arms in five years. Regardless of this morning’s outcome, Congress will continue to play its role,” they said. 

The deal to lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits to its nuclear program, was unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council on Monday, despite opposition from members of Congress.  

Last week, Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged President Obama to postpone the UN vote until after Congress considered the agreement. 

Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, Congress has 60 days to review the agreement, which would lift U.S. sanctions on Iran in exchange for limiting its ability to produce a nuclear weapon. 

Although the U.N.’s vote would allow sanctions to be lifted no earlier than 90 days after its approval, lawmakers argued the move was contrary to the “spirit” of the review act. 

“The administration’s decision to endorse this agreement at the UN prior to a vote in Congress on behalf of the American people is contrary to the spirit of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, which was supported by overwhelming majorities of the House and Senate and signed by the president,” said Corker on Monday.

Corker argued that it is “inappropriate” to commit the U.S. to international obligations without knowing if Congress or the American people approve of disapprove of it. He also noted there is “bipartisan skepticism” to the deal. 

Cardin did not join the committee chairman in the statement, unlike Engel.

Last week, Engel called some parts of the deal — the lifting of an arms embargo on Iran after five years, and sanctions on its ballistic missiles program after eight years  — “deeply troubling.”

“Throughout negotiations, these issues were off the table, so seeing them included in sanctions relief is deeply troubling,” Engel said last Tuesday.

Several other senators slammed the U.N. vote, including two Republican 2016 presidential candidates. 

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that American security had been “outsourced to the United Nations.”

And Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said it was “an affront to the American people and further evidence of a weak president trying to sell a bad deal.”  

“Congress is not bound by today’s U.N. decision. I look forward to a full and complete debate in the coming weeks,” he said.