Senate Committee Approves Measure for Review of Final Nuclear Agreement with Iran

On Tuesday afternoon, April 25, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously voted on a measure that, if finally approved by Congress and signed by the President of the United States, would give Congress the authority to comment on the final agreement with Iran. According to a Reuters report, all 19 members of the committee voted in favor of this measure. Meanwhile, the White House spokesperson announced on Tuesday that the President of the United States is likely to sign the revised version of the proposal from Republican and Democratic senators. Josh Earnest told reporters that Mr. Obama is likely to accept the understanding regarding this measure. This statement comes after he had said the day before that Barack Obama would veto the congressional resolution regarding the potential agreement with Iran. According to Reuters, the White House spokesperson stated: 'What we have made clear to Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is that the President would be willing to sign the proposal put forward by this committee.' Under this measure, the review period for the final nuclear agreement with Iran in the U.S. Congress is reduced from 60 days to 52 days. 30 days of this time is allocated for the review of the potential agreement with Iran in Congress, and 10 days for the President's comments. If Barack Obama vetoes the congressional resolution, the Senate and representatives will have an additional 12 days to vote again on this matter. During this one-month period, Barack Obama can lift the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government, but the sanctions approved by Congress will remain in effect until the conclusion of the nuclear agreement review with Tehran. Josh Earnest, the White House spokesperson, said that the Obama administration will announce its final position on this measure and will be cautious regarding any potential changes that the committee may make. However, he added that the White House would support the measure if it is revised. Mr. Earnest stated: 'Despite the aspects we do not like, enough fundamental changes have been made to this measure that the President would be willing to sign it.' The measure states that if the potential final agreement with Iran is submitted to Congress by July 9—shortly after it is reached on June 30—the review period will revert to 60 days. According to the agreement reached by senators from both the Democratic and Republican parties, the President must assure Congress every 90 days that Iran has adhered to the final agreement. Previously, the measure stated that Barack Obama must also assure every three months that Iran does not support terrorism, which clause was removed in the final version of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s proposal. Representatives from Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, and the U.K., along with Germany, are negotiating a comprehensive agreement on how to resolve ambiguities in Tehran's nuclear program. The parties reached an understanding on the general framework of this agreement in early Farvardin and discussions on its details are set to begin next week.