Biden Can’t Just Slip a New Iran Deal Past Congress
A 2015 act gives lawmakers a say over any agreement on Tehran’s nuclear weapons, even if the administration denies it constitutes an official pact.
That’s a deal!
Photographer: Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images
If it looks like a deal, and smells like a deal, then Congress has the power to reject it. That is the message lawmakers are sending the White House as administration officials try to strike a new bargain with Iran over its nuclear program. President Joe Biden should pay heed, or risk making the same mistakes as his two predecessors — and doom any agreement to failure.
After indirect parleys through Oman, the Biden team has agreed to release payments owed to the Islamic Republic that have long been frozen by sanctions. Officials with knowledge of the negotiations have said Tehran has in turn agreed to free three Americans wrongfully detained in Iranian prisons, as it did three Europeans earlier this month. The ransom for the hostages may be in the region of $10 billion, in the form of sanctions waivers that allow Iraq to pay about $2.7 billion it owes Iran for natural-gas shipments, and South Korea to transfer $7 billion for previous oil purchases.