After securing a surprisingly broad and detailed framework agreement with Iran, President Barack Obama must now subject his signature foreign policy pursuit to the gauntlet of partisan American politics.
A blueprint finalised Thursday after marathon negotiations in Switzerland did little to ease the standoff between Obama and some lawmakers over Congress’ role in a final accord. The president has vowed to veto legislation giving Congress the ability to approve or reject a deal, and he made a fresh appeal for lawmakers to give the US and its international partners space to hammer out a comprehensive agreement ahead of a June 30 deadline.
“The issues at stake here are bigger than politics,” Obama said. “These are matters of war and peace.”
But Republican leaders reaffirmed their intent to vote on legislation giving Congress the last word. Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said the panel would vote on such a measure when lawmakers return from a spring recess on April 14.
“The administration first should seek the input of the American people,” Corker said.
Some Democrats have backed Corker’s quest for a congressional vote on an Iran deal, raising the possibility that lawmakers could override a presidential veto. New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, who is stepping down as top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after his indictment on corruption charges, is among those who backs congressional action.
“If diplomats can negotiate for two years on this issue, then certainly Congress is entitled to a review period of an agreement that will fundamentally alter our relationship with Iran and the sanctions imposed by Congress,” Menendez said in a statement Thursday.
For Obama, achieving a nuclear deal with Iran would be a crowning foreign policy achievement and a validation of his pursuit of diplomacy. His overtures to Iran date back to his first presidential campaign in 2008, when he said he would be willing to talk with Tehran’s leaders without preconditions.