Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Monday that the open letter released last week by 47 GOP senators has become an issue in the talks over limiting his country’s nuclear program.
Iranian officials confronted U.S. negotiators about the letter, which warned that any deal not approved by Congress may not outlast President Obama’s term in office, according to Iranian state media. Zarif told Iran’s Press TV that U.S. officials must clarify the Obama administration’s position on the issue.
Zarif met Secretary of State John Kerry for about five hours Monday as the talks entered a “critical phase,” then flew to Brussels for meetings with European officials.
The two men are set to meet again Tuesday ahead of a self-imposed March 24 deadline to achieve at least the framework of a final deal, which must be secured before a temporary deal runs out July 1.
“We are closer to a solution in some cases and it can therefore be said that solutions are at hand, but in some cases solutions are still elusive,” Zarif told reporters.
The senator who circulated the letter, Republican Tom Cotton of Arkansas, an opponent of the talks, said in his first-ever floor speech that Iran’s ruling Shiite theocracy is an “outlaw regime” which cannot be trusted.
“Iran is only growing bolder and more aggressive as America retreats from the Middle East,” he said.
One of the key sticking points in the talks is also at the center of the dispute between President Obama and the Republican-controlled Congress: The fate of U.S. and international sanctions against Iran.
Though the U.S. sanctions are enacted into law, Obama has refused to submit any deal to Congress and administration officials are making plans to bypass lawmakers by relieving the sanctions through executive action.
Senate Republicans — with the support of many Democrats — are pushing legislation that would require Obama to seek congressional approval of any deal and tie his ability to relieve sanctions to that action. Though Obama has threatened to veto the legislation, its sponsors are close to rounding up support from a veto-proof majority in that chamber.
