WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� Republicans on Capitol Hill said Monday they need more information about the announced by President Donald Trump, and some are expressing skepticism as they ask the White House for details.
The agreement announced Sunday to end the , set for a is centered around reopening the and lifting the United States鈥� naval blockade in the region, along with financial incentives for Iran if it meets certain benchmarks. But Senate Republicans and Democrats who returned to Washington on Monday said there were still many unanswered questions about the deal and they need thorough briefings before it is finalized.
鈥淚 just don鈥檛 know enough about it,鈥� Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters in the Capitol. 鈥淓ven the people who follow this stuff closely up here don鈥檛 know that much about it.鈥�
Congressional leaders and intelligence committees generally receive higher-level intelligence briefings before rank-and-file members, and they are notified of major developments before they are announced. But Thune said he had not been personally briefed on the deal.
鈥淚 think that my understanding of what it entails 鈥� and, again, not having seen anything 鈥� it would require, I think the issues are going to be compliance, and how are you going to enforce that,鈥� Thune said.
Thune鈥檚 concerns were echoed by several other GOP senators.
鈥淚f it鈥檚 a secret deal then how can I take it seriously?鈥� asked Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
Vice President JD Vance told ABC 海角社区app on Monday that the White House would release the text this week, 鈥渁nd what everybody will see is that Iran doesn鈥檛 get a dime of money unless they perform their obligations.鈥�
Senators have questions about details
Trump has not yet explained how his agreement will address Iran鈥檚 nuclear program, including who will be in charge of and who will destroy or remove highly enriched uranium believed to be buried under by U.S. strikes last summer.
A memorandum of understanding also includes the possibility of releasing Iran鈥檚 frozen funds, and a $300 billion fund to help rebuild Iran if Tehran meets certain benchmarks, senior U.S. officials told reporters Monday. But the document has not been released.
Thune said he wants to know more about the conditions on the financial incentives for Iran. He said the deal would be a 鈥済ood one鈥� if the incentives are conditioned upon Iran winding down its nuclear program and getting rid of the enriched uranium, 鈥減reventing them from having a nuclear capability in the future.鈥�
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he is hopeful but 鈥渦ntil you see the final document, it鈥檚 hard to make an assessment.鈥�
鈥淚 go into it very skeptical of the government of Iran,鈥� Kennedy said. 鈥淭hey learn to lie before they learn to talk. So any agreement we make with them has to have guardrails. It has to have a way to judge through independent inspection if they鈥檙e doing what they say they鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Senate could have a vote
Under the Iran nuclear agreement review act passed by Congress during the Obama era, any deal the U.S. reaches concerning Iran鈥檚 nuclear material must be submitted within a certain amount of time to Congress for review. But it is up to Congress whether that happens 鈥� it is not required.
President Barack Obama鈥檚 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, , was submitted for what鈥檚 called a vote of disapproval in the Senate. The outcome did not roll back the agreement, but put the senators on record with their support or opposition.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close ally of Trump and a longtime hawk on Iran, has appeared skeptical over the emerging agreement. He said he is 鈥減ulling for a deal鈥� but Congress will need to review and vote on it, and he wants to see the memorandum that the two countries have agreed on.
鈥淭he way Iran describes it, it鈥檚 awful. The way we describe it, it makes sense to me,鈥� Graham, R-S.C., said. 鈥淟et鈥檚 look at it and see what it actually is.鈥�
Graham has said he wants Vance, whom he called 鈥渢he architect of the deal,鈥� to present it to lawmakers.
Vance responded to Graham on Monday, saying in the interview with ABC that he would 鈥渃aution Lindsey Graham and anybody else not to believe the hard-liner propaganda in Iran, but to believe what鈥檚 actually in the agreement.鈥�
Even though Iran鈥檚 new supreme leader, , is the son of the last supreme leader, and Iran鈥檚 paramilitary Revolutionary Guard still has significant authority in Iran, Vance told CNN in a separate interview that 鈥渇undamentally, it is a much different group of people.鈥� He insisted that the conflict had unlocked much more direct communication with high-level Iranian officials and that the relationship was 鈥渇undamentally transformed.鈥�
Next steps in Congress unclear
Most Senate Republicans said they want to review the deal, but it was still unclear whether they would have a vote, or if Congress could pass it.
Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri said he doesn鈥檛 think an up-or-down vote is necessary.
鈥淵ou have the camp that wants us to lose and then you have a camp that wants a forever war,鈥� Schmitt said. 鈥淧resident Trump鈥檚 not in either one of those camps, and neither am I.鈥�
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he expects the Senate will get the final say. But he praised Trump for making 鈥渢he single most consequential decision of his presidency鈥� by attacking Iran.
鈥淚 think he made America safer,鈥� Cruz said. 鈥淭he president as commander in chief acted decisively to stop that ayatollah from getting nuclear weapons.鈥�
Sen. James Lankford, an Oklahoma Republican who serves on the Intelligence Committee, said he expects there are still many more steps to the process before any package would come to Congress for review.
鈥淪eems like early reports are showing that this is kind of the first step,鈥� he said. 鈥淥nce we have a final agreement, we need to take it up and pass it. 鈥� If you want a long-term agreement it鈥檚 got to be law.鈥�
Democrats ask what has changed
Democrats questioned how the deal will improve upon the U.S. position before the war 鈥� and how it differs from Obama鈥檚 2015 nuclear deal.
鈥淔or all his critique of JCPOA, we had international observers, we actually had an alliance there that included the Europeans, and Russia and China were all signatories,鈥� Virginia Sen. the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, told CBS鈥� 鈥淔ace the Nation鈥� on Sunday.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said there are more questions than answers, including what happens to the Iranian nuclear program and sanctions on Iranian oil.
Trump has spent 鈥渢ens of billions of dollars鈥� and service members and Iranians have died, 鈥渁nd he still cannot explain how one family in Massachusetts is better off,鈥� Warren said.
Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia said an end to what has been a costly and unpopular war would be a good resolution, but he wants to hear more details.
鈥淎n off ramp is good because it was a war that should have never been started,鈥� he said.
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Associated Press writers Michelle Price in Washington and Bill Barrow in Alpharetta, Georgia, contributed to this report.
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