Severe Congressional Reaction Expected if Iran Nuclear Deal is Sent to the UN Security Council

A prominent Republican senator in the United States has stated that if the Obama administration sends the nuclear agreement with Iran to the United Nations Security Council before Congress approves it, there will be a "severe reaction" from Congress. According to the Associated Press, Senator Lindsey Graham said in a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Monday, April 3, that if a framework for the political agreement with Iran is reached by the end of March, the U.S. Senate will vote in April on a bill requiring any agreement to have the approval of American lawmakers. Iran and six world powers are currently engaged in close negotiations to reach a political agreement by the end of March (April 11), although Western officials have indicated that there are significant unresolved issues in the current negotiations. Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group are set to resume on April 5. Senator Graham from South Carolina predicted that the number of votes from lawmakers on the nuclear agreement with Iran would be sufficient that President Barack Obama would not be able to veto it. The six world powers want to reach an agreement with Iran that prevents the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons. Iran also seeks to have this agreement approved by the Security Council under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to ensure that any potential agreement cannot be annulled by future governments or parliaments of the negotiating countries. Iran demands the immediate lifting of sanctions imposed by the U.S., the European Union, and the UN against Tehran. Meanwhile, the Obama administration is asking Congress to refrain from taking any action until the end of the nuclear negotiations, which are scheduled for the end of June. Washington officials also say that the five permanent members of the Security Council are negotiating with Iran to pass a resolution supporting any agreement in the Security Council. Senator Graham stated that such an action would face a "severe reaction" from Congress. He remarked, "I don't think it's good for the country to send a globally impactful agreement to the UN before discussing it with our own people (Americans)." However, this American senator has said that under current circumstances, negotiation is the best course of action, but the Obama administration must strive to achieve the best outcome from the negotiations and justify the results to Congress and all Americans. He stated that if we criticize, we do not mean that negotiations should stop. Our point is that we have not received enough concessions. That is all we want to say. Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, along with several senators from both the Republican and Democratic parties, introduced a plan on February 27 that would require the president to submit the text of any nuclear agreement for Congressional approval, and until Congress approves it, the administration would not have the right to suspend sanctions approved by the Senate against Iran for 60 days. During this 60-day period, American lawmakers must hold question-and-answer sessions and review the agreement to take action on the agreement reached. Senator Corker had previously warned that Obama must submit the agreement for Congressional review before sending it to the UN. Senator Graham's remarks come as 367 members of the U.S. Congress wrote a letter to the president on April 3 stating that any nuclear agreement with Iran and any potential lifting of sanctions must be approved by Congress. The letter, published on the U.S. Congress website, states: "Any potential lifting of sanctions enacted by Congress requires the authorization and re-approval of Congress." Previously, 47 Republican senators had written a letter to Iranian leaders stating that any agreement with the U.S. government without Congressional approval is not valid and that the next U.S. president has the power to disregard it.