Zarif's Response to Letter from 47 American Senators: Lacks Legal Value

In Iran's first official reaction to the letter from 47 Republican senators regarding the validity of a potential nuclear agreement with Tehran lasting only until the end of Barack Obama's presidency, it emphasized that the letter is merely a "propaganda trick" and lacks "legal value." Mohammad Javad Zarif stated in comments published by the IRNA and ISNA news agencies, without citing a source, that "we believe this letter has no legal value and is merely a propaganda trick." He noted that "negotiations have not yet reached a conclusion and no agreement has been reached," but "pressure groups in the U.S. are so worried that they resort to unconventional methods, showing that like Netanyahu, they oppose any kind of agreement." The 47 Republican senators, in an open letter published on March 9, warned Iranian leaders that any nuclear agreement with the U.S. government, without congressional approval, would only last until the end of Barack Obama's presidency. Zarif expressed surprise that "how it is possible for some representatives of a country to write to the leaders of another country against their own president and government" and emphasized that "the letter from these senators shows that they are not only unfamiliar with international law but are also completely unaware of the intricacies of their own constitution regarding the powers of the U.S. president in foreign policy execution." The letter from the 47 Republican senators stated that "anything not approved by Congress is merely an executive agreement [by the president]" and "the next president can immediately nullify this executive agreement, and the next Congress can change the terms of this agreement at any time." Zarif accused the mentioned senators of ignorance regarding "international law and the international obligations of states" and stated: "A change of government in any country does not mean the nullification of that country's international obligations; therefore, any government in the U.S. is obliged to fulfill the commitments accepted by its current government in a potential nuclear agreement, and if the next president, as these senators suggest, nullifies the international obligations of the United States with a stroke of a pen, he would be committing a clear violation of international law." Zarif considered the commitments of the parties in the potential nuclear agreement to be "binding" due to the presence of UN Security Council members in the discussions and addressed the American senators, saying: "According to international law, Congress cannot change the terms of the agreement in the future, and it is evident that any action by Congress to prevent the implementation of a potential agreement by the U.S. government would be tantamount to a violation of that government's international obligations." The White House spokesperson also described the letter from the Republican senators as a "partisan" action and "putting a spoke in the wheel" of nuclear negotiations. Since the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the challenge between Barack Obama's administration and Congress has intensified, and the debate over how American lawmakers should intervene in any potential agreement with Iran has become one of the main disputes between the White House and Congress. The Senate and the House of Representatives are seeking to pass a plan to obtain congressional approval for the agreement with Iran, but the President of the United States has warned that he will veto this plan. The status of Tehran's nuclear program, which has become a challenge in international relations for over a decade, must be resolved by early July, and the countries involved in the nuclear negotiations with Iran in the P5+1 group, including the U.S., Russia, China, France, and the UK along with Germany, have expressed hope that this agreement will be reached. However, both Iranian and American officials have repeatedly emphasized that disagreements over key issues remain strong. One of these issues is how to lift sanctions against Tehran and the number of active centrifuges in Iran.