Senators Write Letter Directly to Iran Leaders, to Oppose Nuclear Treaty of Obama Administration

HISTORIC BUT EMBARRASSING LETTER FROM U.S. SENATORS TO LEADERS OF IRAN

"Republican Senators do not understand International law"  Iran's Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif said in response to the condescending letter, that 47 Republican Senators sent to Iran's leaders to try to kill the negotiations on nuclear development in Iran. 

We at BGP thought we had seen the worst, coming from U.S. elected officials, when they threatened to close down Homeland Security over disagreement with President Obama.  Then they invited the President of Israel to make a speech in the U.S. Congress, just a few days before his election, to let him "bluster and offer threats" about the U.S. negotiations with Iran. In Netanyahu's closing, he made a threat that Israel would fight it's enemies if necessary, alone, an ominous  threat of unilateral military action.  (The response to this speech in Israel, was ten's of thousands of Israeli people demonstrating in the streets against Netanyahu's leadership (or lack thereof).  Now we see a letter signed by 47 U.S. Senators, to Iranian leaders, stating that Obama will not be in office for long, and that they would. Therefore if they do a treaty, it may not last.

What were these Senators thinking, when they wrote this letter?  It is more an attack on the President of the USA, than a letter of "instruction" to Iranians.  

The United States has always, as a matter of patriotic citizenship,  been united in international dealings, behind the President. I recall Sam Rayburn (the nation's Speaker of the House, throughout the terms of several U.S. Presidents), advising, as every Speaker of the House  has in US history that " The USA, always pulls together, behind our President in international matters".  Speaker Sam Rayburn used to say:

"We need to be Americans without Prefix or Suffix" in dealing with foreign relations not "Republican Americans, Democrat Americans, but just, Americans. 

So we find it disappointing, if not almost comic, that Senators of the United States, would write an open letter to leaders of another nation, opposing our President, and opposing treaty negotiations that have been going on, with the help of a number of interested and allied nations. The reason that European nations are with us on this, is because a world with a peaceful Iran that is not a nuclear threat, is a huge idea.  Like Cuba, who we tried to isolate and punish for decades, until Obama negotiated an open relationship with....it is time to treat Iran with respect and recognize the nation's importance for the future of peace in the Middle East. Iran is moving slowly but steadily in a progressive and more open direction. There are two Iran's, these days. One Iran is the government Iran, ruled by a religious revolution of strict government rules,  that is backed with armed military radical groups, and people who work for them.  But the second Iran is behind the doors of private homes and private business. There Iranians do not subscribe to the strict "religious" rules of life, and there, they seek progress, openness and freedom. These are the young, the college graduates and the vast middle class that was largely not adult when the original revolution took place. These people love music, history, international movies, freedom of expression, freedom of culture and are far more progressive than the old bearded Mullah's who have seized power (and have seized much of the wealth and property) from Iranian citizens.  Thus, this is a time to encourage Iran, to negotiate with Iran, and begin to welcome Iran as a peaceful partner, not as a war-like enemy.  Iran's Shiite soldiers, seem to be doing more to contain ISIS and the Sunni radicals in Iraq, than any of Iraq's internal military these days. And like it or not, Iran, will be the major power to bring stability to the Middle East, if stability is possible in that divided, and war torn area. 

It is logical to learn to understand and appreciate Iran.  The Iranian people are a great, educated, and culturally deep nation.  It would appear that the radicals of the world, the extremists are the ones principally opposed to progress in Iran. Certainly the radical Wahhabi and Sunnis of Saudi Arabia, who have donated over $80 billion dollars to promote Sunni expansion around the world, don't want to see Iran progress.  People like Netanyahu, and his right wing militarists of Israel do not want to see Iran progress. ISIS, and it's Sunni terrorists, do not want to see a strong or peace enforcing Iran. Now, 47 Republican Senators of the USA, join with those groups, seemingly promoting warlike ideas, vs negotiation and progress.  

Many American leaders were furious with this letter by the Senate to Iran's leaders. 

Vice President Joe Biden strongly denounced the letter in a statement saying the missive "offends me as a matter of principle" and was "beneath the dignity of an institution I revere."

"In thirty-six years in the United States Senate, I cannot recall another instance in which senators wrote directly to advise another country — much less a longtime foreign adversary — that the president does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them," Biden said in his statement.

The letter signed by 47 elected officials warned Tehran that any nuclear deal needs congressional approval in order to last beyond Obama's term and pointed out that without that step, all Iran would be left with is a "mere executive agreement" between Obama and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iran was not impressed, and indeed called the Republican gesture a "Propaganda ploy".  Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif dismissed the GOP letter, and then said: 

"It is very interesting that while negotiations are still in progress and while no agreement has been reached, some political pressure groups are so afraid even of the prospect of an agreement that they resort to unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history," Iran's top diplomat added.

Obama himself compared the Senate Republicans to reactionary members of Iran's government, saying "I think it's somewhat ironic that some members of Congress want to make common cause with the hardliners in Iran. It's an unusual coalition."  The letter, in the opinion of BGP reflects an adolescent bias against President Obama, and is not consistent with historic values of United States elected officials, in supporting the United States when dealing with foreign governments, regardless of political or personal opinions. 

The letter does not include the signature of Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And he is the co-sponsor of a bill that calls for Congress to have a say on any nuclear deal. Senators, deemed more "moderate", and more even in temperate did not sign the letter.  

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said earlier Monday that "the rush to war, or at least the rush to the military option, that many Republicans are advocating is not at all in the best interest of the United States."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest described the Republican letter as "the continuation of a partisan strategy to undermine the president's ability to conduct foreign policy."

The letter is essentially designed to "throw sand in the gears" of ongoing talks, Earnest said, and is not a "role that our Founding Fathers envisioned for Congress to play when it comes to foreign policy."

Obama, speaking after a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk, noted there is not yet an agreement with Iran. If there is, the president said, "then we'll be able to make the case to the American people, and I'm confident we'll be able to implement it."

Senate, Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Republicans were driven by animosity toward Obama and unwilling to recognize that American voters had twice elected him president. Reid said that even at the height of Democrats' disagreement about the war in Iraq with former President George W. Bush, they would not have sent a letter to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

"Republicans don't know how to do anything other than juvenile political attacks against the president," Reid said. 

Read the tone of the letter. It is almost condescending, like a school teacher instructing the leaders of Iran, in a Civics class, on how the U.S. Senate works. This bit of inappropriate partisan politics is another low point for elected officials.   Americans deserve better. America deserves better.