Two US Senators: Possible Agreement to Revive JCPOA Will Be Presented to Congress
Bob Menendez and Lindsey Graham, two influential Democratic and Republican senators who have traveled to Israel, said at a press conference in Jerusalem on Monday, September 4, that the Joe Biden administration is "committed" to bringing it to Congress for review if an agreement is reached with Iran to revive the JCPOA.
The two senators, however, said they "promise" that such an agreement would face "bipartisan opposition" from Democrats and Republicans.
Senator Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from New Jersey, added that it is unclear, however, what the outcome of the vote in Congress will be.
In recent weeks, a large number of US senators and members of the House of Representatives have presented numerous proposals to create obstacles to the revival of the JCPOA and have tried in various ways to ensure that Iran does not benefit from this agreement even if it is implemented.
One of the proposals presented is a call to "permanentize" the sanctions laws against Iran, known as "ISA", which were first implemented to a limited extent in 1996 during the presidency of Bill Clinton.
Although the AISA law was extended for another 10-year period in 2016, a number of pro-Israel bipartisan representatives want to make the law permanent.
That said, if Senators Menendez and Graham's statements regarding the "Biden administration's commitment" to bringing a new US-Iran agreement to Congress are implemented, it would still require a two-thirds vote of the members to oppose it.
Given the need for a two-thirds vote from senators, which is considered the "legal threshold" for repealing a bill or law proposed by the president, if Joe Biden approves the JCPOA revival agreement and wants to implement it, the possibility that the Senate will be able to stand up to Mr. Biden and defeat his plan seems extremely unlikely.
Senator Menendez, who strongly opposed the JCPOA in 2015, said at a press conference in Israel on Monday that he had no confidence that the new agreement would be an improved text over the original JCPOA to serve the interests of the United States and its ally, Israel.
Senator Graham, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also said in the meeting about reports published in the Israeli media that the Mossad chief was not allowed to appear before the committee during his current trip to Washington and speak against the agreement with the United States and Iran, only that "he made his remarks to the committee." However, Mr. Graham did not provide further explanation as to how the Mossad chief's remarks came about.
Israeli media have reported that the Senate Armed Services Committee does not give David Barnea time, and that his one or two meetings with members of the committee are of a personal nature.
Meanwhile, the Mossad chief's talks with American officials are scheduled to begin in Washington on September 5. The reason for the delay in these talks and the postponement of his trip, which was scheduled for late last week, is still unknown.
Tom Nides, the US ambassador to Israel, announced on September 4 that Joe Biden, in his last telephone conversation with Yair Lapid, the Prime Minister of the Israeli transitional government, said that the United States would "never" tie Israel's hands in defending itself, in line with its needs, and was "committed" that Iran would "never" gain access to nuclear weapons.
Joe Biden spoke with Yair Lapid late last week. Israeli media reported that Mr. Lapid had been waiting for such a conversation for a long time and that his request for such a conversation had been repeatedly rejected.
Yair Lapid said on September 4, after a phone call with Joe Biden, that his government would continue the “campaign” against the JCPOA revival agreement “with force.” Lapid’s remarks were interpreted as his failure to convince Mr. Biden to walk away from the JCPOA revival talks.
Source: Radio Farda
