US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, has said that any possible agreement between the United States and Iran must be approved by Congress.
He drew attention to the issue again after Trump announced that he had postponed a planned strike on Iran on 19 May at the request of Gulf leaders.
Commenting on social media X, Graham wrote that any agreement between Tehran and Washington should be submitted to Congress for approval, as was the case with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal under Barack Obama’s presidency, which Trump pulled the US out of in 2018.
Expressing scepticism about the prospects of reaching an agreement with Iran, Graham said that if the conflict could still be ended “through diplomatic means that achieve our national security objectives, that would be a great achievement.”
According to the senator, Trump wants Iran to stop enriching uranium, hand over control of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to the United States, stop interfering with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, abandon its programmes to develop long-range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons, and stop supporting armed groups in the region.
That said, Graham also said he was very sceptical that Iran would agree to terms that would make any new deal significantly different from the 2015 nuclear deal, adding that “Time will tell”.
On 28 February, the US and Israel launched a joint military campaign against Iran, seeking, among other things, to limit the country’s nuclear and ballistic capabilities.
In response, Iran effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz – a vital waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil trade used to pass – causing a sharp rise in market prices. The issue has since become central to resolving the conflict.
Islamabad has been mediating since the truce between Iran and the US took effect in early April. Islamabad hosted a round of talks between senior officials from Washington and Tehran, but it was inconclusive.