npr.org:
Republican senators’ letter to Iran about ongoing nuclear talks has prompted a lengthy response from Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who delivered an overview of international law as he critiqued the letter.
Zarif said he was astonished by the letter, saying it suggests the U.S. lawmakers “not only do not understand international law” — a subject in which he is a professor — “but are not fully cognizant of the nuances of their own Constitution when it comes to presidential powers in the conduct of foreign policy,” according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
The Iranian minister said that “in our view, this letter has no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy.”
His response (we have more of it below) came after it was announced Monday that 47 Senate Republicans who oppose a potential deal with Iran over its nuclear program had signed a letter to the country’s leaders.
Coming two weeks before the deadline for envoys to reach general terms with Iran, the signatories wrote that they had been observing the negotiations over potentially relaxing economic sanctions — and told Iran’s leaders they were concerned “that you may not fully understand our constitutional system.”
The letter seemed to strike a nerve for Zarif, who moved to the U.S. as a teenager and holds a doctorate and two other advanced degrees from American universities.
As NPR’s It’s All Politics blog noted, “The letter was written by freshman Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and co-signed by 46 of his GOP colleagues, including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”
The senators cited the U.S. process of ratifying treaties in Congress and President Obama’s term that expires in January of 2017, writing:
“What these two constitutional provisions mean is that we will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.”
Zarif, noting that negotiations are ongoing and haven’t yielded an agreement, said the U.S. lawmakers’ “unconventional methods” show that they “are opposed to any agreement, regardless of its content.”
Saying he hopes to “enrich the knowledge of the authors,” Zarif said:
“I should bring one important point to the attention of the authors and that is, the world is not the United States, and the conduct of inter-state relations is governed by international law, and not by US domestic law. The authors may not fully understand that in international law, governments represent the entirety of their respective states, are responsible for the conduct of foreign affairs, are required to fulfill the obligations they undertake with other states and may not invoke their internal law as justification for failure to perform their international obligations.”
Zarif also noted that many previous international agreements the U.S. has been a party to have been “mere executive agreements,” and not full treaties that received Senate ratification.
He said any deal on sanctions and Iran’s nuclear program would not be bilateral; would require approval by the U.N. and the U.N. Security Council; and would not be subject to modification by Congress.
He added, “I wish to enlighten the authors that if the next administration revokes any agreement with the stroke of a pen, as they boast, it will have simply committed a blatant violation of international law.”
I hope the Senators are embarrassed. Obviously their desire to embarrass the President of the United States overpowered their desire for accuracy. He basically told them that their letter was irrelevant. Zarif, who the Senators cannot simply dismiss as a Bedouin, is highly educated in international law–American educated as a matter of fact.
It’s high time that these partisan senators get off their high horse and start working towards better international relations and stop letting Bibi Netanyahu dictate our foreign policy. It sounds like both the senators and Netanyahu fear peace the most.
Sad day when the Iranians have to lecture our own republican senators about our own constitution. The repugs don’t understand it. They clearly are a reflection of the low information idiots whom they represent.
The Senators are right and the Iranian professor is wrong on this. There is no treaty unless it is ratified by the Senate. Partisanship aside that’s the Constitution. International law does not override domestic law of a sovereign state, unless the state allows it. Treaties once ratified have all the force of the Constitution, otherwise the agreements are much less enforceable and easier to change.
The world is just as dangerous a place as ever. Obama has not done much to help. His lack of leadership is like a gaping hole in international affairs. He’s proven himself as just the empty suit I have said he was since his first election. Pathetic.
The senate will have the opportunity to ratify the treaty at the appropriate time. This is not the time as the treaty has yet to be completed. Hence, The senators are wrong and clearly do not understand or respect our nation’s constitution.
That’s not the point I’m arguing against Starryfights.
@Starryflights
The Senate was warning the President along with the Iranians that the Constitution applies and that the President cannot expect to just use “a pen and a phone” to cut a deal with the Iranians so that he could have a legacy moment.
What about those other 5 countries? Do you think they are getting their jollies off also?
It sounds to me like a multi-lateral agreement. It will go before the UN. That gives the deal a little teeth.
What a laugh riot this lecture from Zarif is. I believe he is the guy who had to be ordered repeat ordered by the mullahs to stop yelling all the time at John Kerry across the negotiating table. First time I ever heard of anything like that. Yeeeesh. And somebody around here wants to applaud this female-oppressive theocrat from the world’s primary state sponsor of international terrorism for lecturing to U.S senators on our Constitution? LOL and LOL again.
Zarif’s mouthing off suggests to me that the Iranians are very, very, very anxious to have something less than a formal treaty so they can avoid the scrutiny of the Senate. They must be confidant that they are snookering our side or believe that we are caving to them for whatever reason.
I say again. These power-hungry theocrats are within smelling distance of being a nuclear power in the Middle East and, therefore, of being an all-time threat to Israel. Do you really think they will honor anything they sign? Don’t bet on it. And then the Saudis and the Turks and perhaps even the Egyptians will start to reassess their own security postures……………….accompanied by a big loss of confidence in America. I’ll bet the Saudis are already on the move in that direction behind closed doors.
And the race will be on!!
The republicans should have the courage to express their concerns directly to the president.
Iran Offers to Mediate Talks Between Republicans and Obama
TEHRAN (The Borowitz Report)—Stating that “their continuing hostilities are a threat to world peace,” Iran has offered to mediate talks between congressional Republicans and President Obama.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, made the offer one day after Iran received what he called a “worrisome letter” from Republican leaders, which suggested to him that “the relationship between Republicans and Obama has deteriorated dangerously.”
“Tensions between these two historic enemies have been high in recent years, but we believe they are now at a boiling point,” Khamenei said. “As a result, Iran feels it must offer itself as a peacemaker.”
He said that his nation was the “logical choice” to jumpstart negotiations between Obama and the Republicans because “it has become clear that both sides currently talk more to Iran than to each other.”
He invited Obama and the Republicans to meet in Tehran to hash out their differences and called on world powers to force the two bitter foes to the bargaining table, adding, “It is time to stop the madness.”
Hours after Iran made its offer, President Obama said that he was willing to meet with his congressional adversaries under the auspices of Tehran, but questioned whether “any deal reached with Republicans is worth the paper it’s written on.”
For their part, the Republicans said they would only agree to talks if there were no preconditions, such as recognizing President Obama’s existence.
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/iran-offers-to-mediate-talks-between-republicans-and-obama?mbid=social_facebook
Too funny.
I agree. Because that would be such a useful conversation after telling them to go to hell on this and so many other subjects. Let then eat cake and their troublesome constitution too..
And, at the end of all this, the Iranian mullahs will have the bomb. That should give everyone pause.
That certainly is a dismal outlook. I feel so much better knowing Pakistan has wmds.
And the US helped Iran get to the bomb by providing support and technology and removing adversaries.
Pat — Removing adversaries? How so specifically, may I ask?
@Wolve
He thinks that the removal of Saddam was an assistance to Iran.
I suspect that, if Saddam was still in power, we would have two countries trying to build the bomb today. Iraq is not exactly a country sans educated people and talent. I cannot imagine Saddam sitting still for long upon learning that his old enemy Iran was moving fast toward nuclear power status. We helped Saddam during the eight-year war with Iran (1980-1988) because we actually thought that Iran might kick his butt. It ended up in essentially a stalemate despite Saddam’s air power and desperate use of chemical weapons. Saddam did not come close to winning that war by any stretch. Then the fool turns around and invades Kuwait, transforming himself from our “friend” (I use that term loosely) to our enemy and a continuing threat to the Arabian Peninsula.