At least two potential GOP presidential candidates have promised to reject any deal President Obama signs to contain Iran’s nuclear program, even though the administration has yet to ink a final agreement with Iran.
Appearing on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Wednesday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) replied “absolutely” when asked if he would reject an agreement that allows Iran to continue enriching uranium if he wins the presidency, adding that he would do so “on day one.” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) echoed the same sentiment last week, explaining that “any agreement that allows Iran to retain enrichment capability, leaves in place the infrastructure they will need in five, ten, eight, whenever they decide to ramp up enrichment and produce a weapon.”
Both likely presidential contenders claim that the only deal they would support would require Iran to fully eliminate its nuclear enrichment capabilities, a position George W. Bush maintained for most of his presidency.
During that period, however, Iran’s centrifuges grew from 164 in 2003 to approximately 19,000 centrifuges today, leading Bush to ultimately concede that, as the New York Times put it, “there was no way to reach a deal without Iran retaining at least a face-saving amount of enrichment capability.” Under the leaked terms of the current negotiations, Iran would be able to retain some level of enrichment capability.
As Secretary of State John Kerry — who is spearheading the current ongoing negotiations with Iran — explained to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last month, “Guess what, they learned how to enrich. They’re now enriching. And the question is whether or not we can create a system where they have a peaceful nuclear program like other people who enrich that is manageable, controllable, verifiable, accountable.”
The United States and its international partners — Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — hope to establish strict controls on Iran’s uranium enrichment for at least ten years. Should Iran comply and submit to a rigorous inspections regime, the world powers would lift economic sanctions against the country.
Obama could use executive actions and waivers to suspend some sanctions, but will ultimately need to rely on Congress for more substantial relief. If the Iranians comply with nuclear inspections and the deal holds, lawmakers could have a hard time derailing it, since doing so could jeopardize America’s relationships with its allies and be seen as internationally provocative towards a military conflict with Iran.
A final deal, however, has not yet been reached, making any specific details about the concessions both sides have made hard to come by, and putting Republicans in the position of rejecting a deal they haven’t even read.
According to an interim accord that preceded the current round of negotiations, Iran can continue to enrich uranium up to 5 percent of U-235, far below the 90 percent level needed for a weapon. In Nov. 2014, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran was complying with the terms of the temporary deal.