US Republican Senator Tom Cotton Defends Letter To Iran Cautioning Against Nuclear Deal With Obama

Republican party Senator Tom Cotton has rejected the charge that he was trying to undermine President Barack Obama’s powers. In a letter to Iran, co-signed by 46 other Republican law makers, it warned Iran against making a deal with the Obama administration on its nuclear program.

"This is about stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," he said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. The letter was condemned by President Obama, who said the Republicans who signed the letter "want to make common cause with the hard-liners in Iran." The letter cautioned Iran that any deal without congressional approval could be reversed by the next president.

On MSNBC, Cotton said the only acceptable deal with Iran would require complete nuclear disarmament. "They are nothing but hardliners in Tehran. They've been killing Americans for 35 years," he said. Iran had been claiming that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful. The Obama administration is working towards an agreement with a deadline in March. But it invited strong opposition from Israel, which is saying the deal will make Iran get away with its plans to make a nuclear bomb. But the Obama administration insists that a deal is the best way to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

Biden’s Strong Reaction

Vice President Joe Bidden heavily criticised the Iran letter of Republicans. He said in his 36 years of service in the United States Senate, he cannot recall another instance in which senators wrote directly to advise another country that the president does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them.

For that, Cotton's reply was that, "Joe Biden, as Barack Obama's own secretary of defense has said, has been wrong about nearly every major foreign policy and national security decision in the last 40 years.” He was making an oblique reference to the memoir by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Iran’s Reaction

Meanwhile, Iran in its response posted on the website of Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Foreign Minister Javad Zarif described the Grand Old Party’s letter as a “propaganda ploy.”

Zarif said negotiations are still in progress and no agreement has been reached. Still, some political pressure groups are afraid of the prospect of an agreement and are resorting to “unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history.”

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