House and Senate Republicans urged U.S. President Donald Trump to reject any nuclear deal with Iran that allows the Islamic Republic to continue enriching nuclear material.
In a pair of nearly identical letters on Wednesday, 51 senators and 177 congressmen, all Republicans, laid out their preferred terms for a potential agreement with Iran.
“The scope and breadth of Iran’s nuclear buildout have made it impossible to verify any new deal that allows Iran to continue enriching uranium,” the letters state.
“The Iranian regime should know that the administration has congressional backing to ensure their ability to enrich uranium is, as you put it in your interview with ‘Meet the Press,’ ‘totally dismantled,’” they add.
The only Republican who did not sign the Senate letter was Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), while the House letter garnered the signatures of 80% of the Republican caucus.
The letters follow conflicting statements from administration officials about what kind of nuclear program Iran might be allowed to retain if it agrees to a new framework with the United States.
In April, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff suggested in an interview with Fox News that Iran might be permitted to continue to enrich uranium to 3.67% purity, a level commonly used in civilian nuclear reactors.
Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60% purity, shy of the 90% purity considered to be “weapons grade” uranium, but far above the level needed for any known civilian use.
Witkoff seemed to reverse himself the following day, posting on social media that “Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment.”
Trump said on Wednesday in response to a question about whether Iran would be permitted to retain an enrichment capability that “we haven’t made that decision yet.”
Axios reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration has presented Iran with a written proposal for a nuclear deal.
Iranian officials have claimed that Iran will never agree to renouncing nuclear enrichment.
“Enrichment is an issue that Iran will not give up, and there is no room for compromise on it,” Abbas Aragchi, the Iranian foreign minister, told Iranian state media on Saturday. “However, its dimensions, levels or amounts might change for a period to allow confidence-building.”
