Graham congratulates Netanyahu, assures on congressional review of Iran deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a congratulatory phone call on Saturday from one of the Senate’s leading hawks, Lindsey Graham, who reassured the newly reelected prime minister that Congress will review any nuclear deal that President Barack Obama strikes with Iran.

The South Carolina Republican, who is preparing for a potential presidential run in 2016 focused tightly on foreign policy, told Netanyahu that there remains bipartisan support in Washington for Graham’s bill that would allow congressional review of a deal intended to scale back Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee opted to punt a committee vote on the bill until mid-April after the White House blitzed Capitol Hill last week to tamp down Democrats’ support for the legislation, but Graham emphasized that the Senate will follow through on the proposal, which isn’t likely to hit the Senate floor for a month.

“I assured the prime minister of Congress’s intent to look closely at any Iranian nuclear deal as there remains strong bipartisan support for that approach,” Graham said in a Saturday statement. “I have long believed and made clear that Congress should look at any Iran deal before we lift additional sanctions.”

In late December, Graham appeared at a press conference alongside Netanyahu in Jerusalem to pledge a congressional vote that would impose new sanctions on Iran if it walks away from a deal. That approach that has been largely abandoned since GOP leaders keyed in on the congressional approval bill written by Graham and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) that’s gathered the support of enough Democrats to approach a veto-proof majority.

The South Carolina senator was one of the 47 signers of a GOP letter addressed to Iranian leadership casting doubt that Obama could forge a lasting agreement with Iran that would survive inspection by Congress and future presidents, and Republicans have continued to vocally undercut Obama since the letter’s release. In lengthy floor speeches on Thursday afternoon, the lead senator behind that letter, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, and presidential contender Marco Rubio of Florida, took to the floor to blast Obama’s commitment to Israel.

Cotton criticized the administration’s “appalling reaction” to the success of Netanyahu’s Likud Party while Rubio chided Obama for failing to call Netanyahu to congratulate him. A few minutes later the White House released a statement that said Obama spoke with Netanyahu and told the prime minister that his administration is focused on forging a deal that “prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.”