Obama: Some Members of the U.S. Congress Have Aligned with Iran's Hardliners

Barack Obama, the President of the United States, on Monday, March 9, referred to a letter from 47 U.S. senators to Iranian leaders as 'unconventional' and stated that some members of Congress have shown they want to align themselves with 'hardliners' inside Iran. According to the Associated Press, he added, 'This is an unusual coalition.' The 47 Republican senators issued an open letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, warning that any nuclear agreement with the U.S. government would not last beyond Obama's presidency without Congress's approval. In his remarks on Monday, President Obama emphasized that his focus is on whether negotiations with Iran will lead to an agreement or not. He stated, 'As soon as we do this, if we do, then we will discuss the matter with the American people.' Before the President's remarks, the White House spokesperson reacted to the Republican senators' letter, stating that their action was 'partisan' and 'putting a wrench in the works' of nuclear negotiations with Iran. Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, also stated that 'this letter has no legal value and is merely a propaganda trick.' Dianne Feinstein, a Democratic senator from California, described her colleagues' letter to Iranian leaders as 'a very unprecedented and inappropriate attack on the President's right to conduct foreign policy.' She stated that this letter is 'the last step to undermine serious efforts' by the U.S. and the international community to reach a peaceful solution regarding Iran's nuclear program. Nicholas Burns, a former Deputy Secretary of State who was responsible for policy-making on Iran, also assessed the letter as 'unwise and inappropriate.' Burns tweeted that all 535 members of the U.S. Congress cannot play a role in negotiations with Iran and urged Congress to allow the President to lead these negotiations. This is the latest confrontation between Republicans and the President in the past week. Last week, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, was invited to Congress to speak about what has been described as 'the dangers of Iran's nuclear program.' This speech also faced opposition from the White House and Democratic senators, and Obama stated the day after the speech that the Israeli Prime Minister did not propose an alternative solution for negotiations with Iran. The new conflict between Congress and the President comes as a new round of nuclear negotiations is set to take place on March 15 between Mohammad Javad Zarif, the U.S. Secretary of State, and John Kerry, his American counterpart, in Lausanne, Switzerland. The goal of these negotiations has been declared as reducing differences over various aspects of Tehran's nuclear program and reaching a comprehensive and final agreement. Many Republicans and some Democrats are concerned that this agreement may not prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and that easing sanctions could relieve pressure on Iran's economy. A group of American lawmakers has recently proposed a plan that would require Congress to approve the final agreement with Iran. Barack Obama has stated that he would veto any congressional resolution in this regard.