Iranian MPs Prepare Plan Requiring Parliament Approval of Likely N. Deal


TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian lawmakers have prepared a plan that, if passed, would require a possible final nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers to win the endorsement of the country's legislature, an MP told Tasnim.

Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, rapporteur of the parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, said on Sunday that the legislators are considering to pass the double-urgency of the bill, meaning that it will be put to vote soon.

The plan stipulates that, according to Iran's Constitution, any possible nuclear accord between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) will have no credibility without authorization of the parliament, he explained.

Naqavi Hosseini also noted that under the new plan, a 7-memebr delegation of lawmakers will review the course of the talks to give reports to the parliament's presiding board.

The move seems to be a reaction to a bill approved by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier this month that allows the Congress to review a final nuclear agreement with Iran.

It requires the Obama administration to send the text of a final agreement to Congress as soon as it is completed, and blocks Obama's ability to waive many US sanctions on Iran while Congress reviews the deal.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has downplayed the decision, stressing that Iran is engaged in nuclear talks with a group of six countries, not with the US Congress.

"What the US Senate says, what the US House of Representatives wants, what hardliners in the US seek, and what US puppets in the region say are none of our nation and government's business," Rouhani said on April 15.

On April 2, Iran and the Group 5+1 (also known as the P5+1 or E3+3) reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.

They also held a three-day round of talks in Vienna on April 22-24 and started drafting the text of the long-awaited agreement.