This piece has been updated with new information.
Two top Republican lawmakers will introduce legislation that addresses flaws in the Iran nuclear deal such as its expiring restrictions, according to a fact sheet circulated Thursday.
The congressional move comes as the president readies to lay out a key Iran decision Friday that some observers said would “kick” the 2015 deal to lawmakers.
Trump is required to certify to Congress every 90 days whether Iran is fully implementing the deal and whether continued sanctions relief is in America’s vital national security interests, among other conditions. He is expected not to. Decertification would trigger a 60-day period during which Congress can debate reimposing nuclear deal sanctions.
But Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, a chief opponent of the deal and one of the architects of the upcoming nuclear deal-related legislation, has said that he will not call to immediately reimpose sanctions.
Cotton and Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker will introduce legislation that they say fixes the deal’s critical flaws without violating it.
“The legislation would not conflict with the JCPOA upon passage,” reads a fact sheet for the bill, using an acronym for the nuclear deal. “Instead, it would set conditions that halt Iran’s nuclear program and provide a window of time for firm diplomacy and pressure to work.”
The bill, drafted in close coordination with the administration, would automatically reimpose sanctions on Iran if its ‘breakout time,’ or how long it takes to produce enough material for a nuclear weapon, slips under one year.
Iran would face an array of restrictions under the legislation that, if violated, would trigger a reimposition of sanctions. Those restrictions would “remain in force indefinitely,” the fact sheet reads. This fix addresses the deal’s sunset provisions, or limits on Iran’s nuclear program that start falling away after year eight of the deal.
The legislation penalizes Iran if it does not abide by guidelines related to centrifuge research and development as well as inspections. The Trump administration has urged the nuclear watchdog responsible for verifying Iranian commitments under the deal to inspect Iranian military sites. Tehran has sharply rejected that suggestion, describing military bases as “off limits.”
The bill would “empower a diplomatic push,” according to the fact sheet, and could spur European allies to sign on to the restrictions as well as accompanying penalties. French president Emmanuel Macron has expressed openness to supplementing the deal and addressing issues such as the sunset provision.
Corker said he hoped to work with European partners and see them agree to supplement the deal, or to apply similar restrictions to those laid out in his legislation “in the event that Iran moves beyond some of the requirements that exist in the JCPOA from years 8 to 15.”
“We’d like to work with them to overcome the deficiencies that everyone acknowledges,” he told reporters Friday. “I don’t think anyone disagrees that these deficiencies are there and we hope to work with them to get to the same place.”
Cotton last week described the window after decertification as an opportune moment for “coercive diplomacy.”
“Congress and the president, working together, should lay out how the deal must change and, if it doesn’t, the consequences Iran will face,” he said during an event.
“We need a new and broader approach that looks at fixing the problems with the deal and confronting Iran’s campaign for imperial aggression in the region,” he said. “That may involve reimposed sanctions, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t give some time for diplomacy to work.”
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday that the administration wanted Congress to amend the oversight law linked to the nuclear deal (INARA) in a way that bolsters restrictions and ensures violations are punished. The amended legislation would also send a unified message about the deal’s flaws and would strengthen the administration’s diplomatic efforts, Tillerson said.
He said the INARA amendments would involve laying out “trigger points,” or concrete restrictions on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. If Tehran violates these restrictions, the U.S. would reimpose sanctions. The restrictions would not expire, Tillerson added, and would thereby fix the nuclear deal’s expiration date.
“These amendments under INARA would outlive the JCPOA,” he said.
He added that a supplemental agreement is more likely than a reopening of the current nuclear deal.
Corker said Friday that he and Cotton worked closely with the administration to craft their legislative framework.
“Over the last several months, we have been working closely with the State Department, National Security Council and Senator Cotton to develop a legislative strategy to address bipartisan concerns about the JCPOA without violating U.S. commitments,” he said in a statement.
