A group of 15 Democratic House members are scheduled to hold a press conference on Wednesday morning in which they will raise concerns about the nuclear deal that is being drafted with Iran.
The lawmakers who will take part in the press conference are: Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Elaine Luria (VA-2), Donald Norcross (NJ-1), Jared Golden (ME-2), Juan Vargas (CA-51), Vicente Gonzalez (TX-15), Dean Phillips (MN-3), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Tom Suozzi (NY-3), Brendan Boyle (PA-2), Darren Soto (FL-9), Val Demings (FL-10), Jim Costa (CA-16), Susie Lee (NV-3) and Grace Meng (NY-6).
Amid reports of progress in indirect nuclear talks between the US and Iran, lawmakers in Washington have expressed concerns about the agreement.
Last month, a bipartisan group of 21 Members of Congress, led by Gottheimer, Luria and Tom Reed (NY-23), urged the Biden administration to address concerns surrounding the looming agreement with Iran.
The lawmakers noted that, with reports indicating that the Vienna negotiations are nearing conclusion, there are several critical concerning issues that remain on the table — including the potential lifting of the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and of sanctions placed on the Supreme Leader.
A month earlier, nearly 200 House Republicans wrote to Biden and warned that any nuclear deal made with Iran without Congress' approval "will meet the same fate" as the 2015 agreement.
"We will view any agreement reached in Vienna which is not submitted to the US Senate for ratification as a treaty — including any and all secret agreements made with Iran directly or on the sidelines of official talks — as non-binding," the GOP lawmakers wrote to Biden.
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal, in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018, but has held several rounds of indirect talks with the US on a return to the agreement.
Negotiations nearly reached completion last month before Moscow demanded that its trade with Iran be exempted from Western sanctions over Ukraine, throwing the process into disarray.