Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Mark Kirk, two vocal critics of the Iran nuclear deal, are calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to publicly release letters he sent to European and Chinese governments on the consequences of “snap-back” sanctions if Tehran doesn’t abide by its agreements.
The State Department submitted the letters to Congress as part of its obligation to disclose all documents related to the Iran deal to lawmakers.
Rubio and Kirk, who have reviewed the documents, argue that that letters from Kerry seem to tell the European and Chinese foreign governments that their companies would not be hit by sanctions if Iran cheats on the nuclear agreement and sanctions are re-imposed. The two senators said those reassurances undermine the snap-back accountability provisions in the Iran deal, and are pressing the State Department to release the letters so the American public can judge for themselves before Congress votes on the deal in September.
“These letters appear to reassure these foreign governments that their companies may not be impacted if sanctions are re-imposed in response to Iranian violations of the agreement,” they wrote. “While administration officials have claimed that this is not the case, we think it is important for the American public to be able to read your assurances to foreign governments for themselves as their elected representatives review this deal in the coming weeks.”
Citing “conflicting interpretations hinted at by the deal’s various stakeholders,” the senators said they would also like to review assurances other world powers involved in negotiating the deal are giving to companies about the “inherent risks of investing in Iran due to Iran’s ongoing support for terrorism and use of its financial system for illicit activities” and the potential for sanctions to snap back if Iran violates the deal.
Kerry sent the letters to the French, British, German and Chinese governments, according to Rubio, a Florida Republican and contender the GOP presidential nomination, and Kirk, an Illinois Republican.
President Obama and Kerry and other administration officials have argued that the snap-back sanctions are key to keeping Tehran committed to the agreement.
“If Iran violates the deal, all of these sanctions will snap back into place,” Obama said in his White House statement on the nuclear agreement. “We’ve built in snap-back provisions so we don’t have to go through lengthy negotiations at the U.N. to put the sanctions right back in place.”
Since inking the deal, European countries reportedly have rushed to do business with Tehran and secure lucrative contracts, although most of the contracts must wait to be officially made and signed until early next year when the sanctions are scheduled to be lifted.
The State Department hadn’t responded to Rubio’s and Kirk’s letter as of Wednesday.
