Led by Senator Ted Cruz, a long-time opponent of the 2015 nuclear deal, the senators told Biden in a letter dated Monday that they would use "the full range of options and leverage available" to ensure that his government adhered to US laws governing any new accord with Iran.
Cruz and other senior Republican senators told Biden that implementation of any new deal would be "severely, if not terminally hampered" if he did not meet statutory obligations aimed at ensuring congressional oversight over revisions or changes to the 2015 Iran nuclear accord.
They provided no details about their plans, but Republicans have used various tactics to slow down other legislation or put holds on Biden's nominees, including many for ambassador posts.
Earlier, Senator Tom Cotton and nine of his Senate colleagues sent a letter to President Joe Biden demanding that he enforce mandatory sanctions against the growing fleet of oil tankers selling Iranian oil and against the entities purchasing this oil.
Officials in the current US administration, while acknowledging that the policy of maximum pressure has failed, intend to bring their country back to the JCPOA which the US former government unilaterally withdrew from the agreement in May 2018 and re-imposed the anti-Iran sanctions that the deal had lifted.
Envoys from Iran and the P4+1 group of countries — Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — have been holding negotiations in the Austrian capital for 10 months in a bid to resurrect the JCPOA.
The eighth round of the talks will resume today after a brief pause during which the negotiators returned to their capitals for consultations.
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