Senate to 'Respond Legislatively' With Vote on Iran Bill - Majority Leader

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the US Senate will vote on legislation that seeks to ensure lawmakers will have a say before a final agreement is reached with Iran on its nuclear program in June 2015.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Senate will vote on legislation that seeks to ensure lawmakers will have a say before a final agreement is reached with Iran on its nuclear program in June 2015, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

“The [Obama] administration needs to explain to the Congress and the American people why an interim agreement should result in reduced pressure on the world's leading state sponsor of terror," McConnell stated on Monday.

"The Senate will review these parameters more thoroughly, and respond legislatively with the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, which is scheduled to be reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee next week," McConnell added.

On April 2, 2015, the P5+1 group of countries, including the United States, France, Russia, China and the United Kingdom plus Germany, reached a political framework agreement with Iran aimed at guaranteeing the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear program. The framework agreement will be followed with a comprehensive technical agreement set to be reached by June 30, 2015.

However, some members of Congress argue that lawmakers should have a final say before a final agreement is reached.

In February 2015, US Senator Bob Corker introduced the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act that would require US President Barack Obama to submit the final Iran nuclear agreement for a congressional approval.

On Thursday, Corker who chairs the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that the legislation had bipartisan support and he was confident there would be a strong vote for his bill when it is taken up in Committee on April 14.

Corker has also criticized the idea that the Obama administration may try to “bypass Congress,” and seek the approval of the United Nations for the nuclear deal.

"Until we know more about Iran's previous research, no nation can be sure of what Iran may have developed covertly already," Senator McConnell warned on Monday. "The choice is not between recognizing Iran as a threshold nuclear state or going to war. Instead the [Obama] administration should have made clear to the Iranians that additional sanctions and a credible military threat awaited further delay and intransigence."

Earlier on Monday, the White House said that the US Congress should not vote on any legislation that could affect the outcome of the Iran nuclear negotiations before June 2015.