Bob Corker says President Obama should walk away from a bad deal with Iran.
With the deadline for an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program just two weeks away, Bob Corker of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sent a
letter to President Obama Monday accusing the administration of retreating from its original goals in negotiating the pact:
It is breathtaking to see how far from your original goals and statements the P5+1 have come during negotiations with Iran. Under your leadership, six of the world's most important nations have allowed an isolated country with roguish policies to move from having its nuclear program dismantled to having its nuclear proliferation managed. Negotiators have moved from a 20-year agreement to what is in essence a 10-year agreement that allows Iran to simultaneously continue development of an advanced ballistic missile program and research and development of advanced centrifuges. [...]
I am alarmed by recent reports that your team may be considering allowing the deal to erode even further. Only you and those at the table know whether there is any truth to these allegations, and I hope reports indicating potential concessions on inspections and on the full disclosure of Iran's possible military dimensions (PMDs) are inaccurate.
“Regarding inspections, surely your administration and those involved in the negotiations will adhere to an "anytime, anywhere" standard. No bureaucratic committees. No moving the ball. No sites off limits.
Corker concluded the five-paragraph letter saying that if Iran crosses what he called the remaining red lines, the agreement should be axed. "Walking away from a bad deal at this point would take courage, but it would be the best thing for the United States, the region and the world."
More on Corker's objections are below the fold.
The deal has been under negotiation for nearly two years between Iran, Germany and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council—the P5+1 Corker refers to. It would end nuclear-related sanctions in exchange for curbs and intrusive inspections of Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran's leaders have long said is solely for civilian purposes, something none of the negotiating nations believe is true. Mary Troyan writes:
A spokesman for Obama's National Security Council said Monday the administration is willing to walk away from the bargaining table if the deal doesn't include vigorous inspections and the ability to restore sanctions if Iran violates the terms of any deal.
"We agree with Sen. Corker that no deal is preferable to a bad deal," said NSC spokesman Ned Price.
Last month Congress passed and the president signed a bill brokered in large part by Corker that would give Congress 30 days to review any agreement with Iran. If it disapproved, the president would have 12 days to veto it and Congress 10 days to override. But if opposition to the agreement was mostly a product of the large bomb-bomb-bomb Iran crowd, and not serious concerns about giving Iran too much opportunity to cheat, prospects for an override seem slim at best.