ICYMI: Durability Of Agreements With Iran Require Bipartisan Support And Treaty Status

(New York, N.Y.) — On Sunday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman authored an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal calling for President Biden to recalibrate his approach to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Senator Lieberman endorsed a bipartisan strategy for negotiations and called upon President Biden to submit any agreement with the Iranian regime to the U.S. Senate for ratification as a treaty. Such a shift in approach—as the existing 2015 nuclear deal is a non-binding political commitment—is the only way to resolve concerns about the reliability and durability of agreements signed by the President.

Underscoring the necessity of achieving bipartisan support for any agreement, senior Iranian officials have renewed the regime’s demand for “guarantees” that the U.S. will not withdraw again from any agreement that may be reached. Senator Lieberman writes: 

“The only way to assure that is for President Biden to submit an agreement with Iran to the Senate as a treaty, needing 67 votes to be ratified … in our country the President can’t bind our government to a policy beyond his term, without a vote by Congress enacting that policy into law. Achieving an agreement with Iran that could get 67 votes in the Senate wouldn’t be easy, but it is worth the effort.”

Senator Lieberman further observes that the U.S. Senate has a long tradition of participating in arms control negotiations and matters of national security. President Biden has an opportunity to restore bipartisan consensus on the core issues that need to be resolved and create “shared responsibility among the political parties and branches of government” in maintaining an agreement. Senator Lieberman states: 

“President Biden now has a great opportunity. If he engages members of both parties in the Senate in the negotiating process with Iran, and agrees to submit a potential agreement for ratification by the Senate, he will restore bipartisanship to national-security policy and maximize the chances for an agreement that could end the Iranian nuclear threat.” 

In February, UANI organized an open letter calling upon President Biden to develop his Iran policy in a bipartisan manner. 

To read Senator Lieberman’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, please click here. 

To read UANI’s An Open Letter To Biden Administration: A Path Forward For The P5+1 And Iran, please click here 

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