White House Writes Warning Letter to Senators Over Iran Nuclear Legislation

The White House on Saturday wrote a letter warning U.S. senators to withhold legislation that would "likely have a profoundly negative impact on the ongoing negotiations" regarding Iran’s nuclear program, the Huffington Post reported.

Denis McDonough (Image source: NBC NewsWire/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

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The letter, written by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), reiterates a veto threat of the bill, while insisting that Congress will have a say in reviewing and affecting the ultimate outcome. But in far more detailed and foreboding terms than normal, McDonough lays out the administration's concerns should Corker's Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 end up becoming law.

"Put simply," McDonough wrote, "it would potentially make it impossible to secure international cooperation for additional sanctions, while putting at risk the existing multilateral sanctions regime."

More from the Huffington Post:

It comes after months of Congress trying to insert itself into the negotiations between Iran, the U.S. and five partner countries. While the White House maintains it is nearing an agreement that will ensure Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, lawmakers have insisted that President Barack Obama is prepared to sign a “bad deal" that will leave too much of Iran’s nuclear facilities intact, allowing it to covertly develop a nuclear weapon. These concerns have been echoed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who, against the wishes of the White House, delivered a contentious speech on the House floor, warning that the current deal will “all but guarantee” Iran nuclear weapons.

Things came to a head on Monday after nearly every Republican senator signed a letter warning Iran's leaders that Congress approves international treaties, and that any agreement that fails to come before it could be quickly overturned. The White House decried the letter as inappropriate.

"The Administration's request to the Congress is simple: let us complete the negotiations before the Congress acts on legislation," McDonough continued in his Saturday letter to Corker. "We understand that Congress will make its own determinations about how to respond, but we do not believe that the country's interests are served by congressional attempts to weigh in prematurely on this sensitive and consequential ongoing international negotiation aimed at achieving a goal that we all share: using diplomacy to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon."

You can read the full letter here.

(H/T: The Huffington Post)

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