Dan Coats did not sign GOP’s open letter to Iran’s regime

WASHINGTON — Indiana Sen. Dan Coats did not join the majority of Senate Republicans in signing a letter to Iran’s leaders about a pending nuclear deal, despite Coats’ opposition to the deal.

President Barack Obama denounced the letter Monday as an attempt to undermine the administration’s foreign policy. And Vice President Joe Biden said in a statement Tuesday that the letter is “beneath the dignity” of the Senate.

Coats was one of seven Republicans who did not sign the letter, although he has criticized the Obama administration for given away too much, too quickly in the negotiations with Iran.

But while Coats wants to stop Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons capability and wants Congress to approve any deal negotiated with Iran, the letter would not achieve that, according to his spokesman.

“He does not believe that these two interrelated goals are best served by an open letter to the Iranian regime,” spokesman Matt Lahr said.

In the letter to Iran's leaders, 47 Senate Republicans said that any deal is only an "executive agreement" that may not last beyond Obama's presidency, which ends on Jan. 20, 2017.

"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," said the letter pushed primarily by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.

In his statement, Biden — a senator from Delaware for 36 years — said the letter "ignores two centuries of precedent and threatens to undermine the ability of any future American president, whether Democrat or Republican, to negotiate with other nations on behalf of the United States."

While some lawmakers want the chance to review any Iran deal, Biden said:

"However, as the authors of this letter must know, the vast majority of our international commitments take effect without Congressional approval. And that will be the case should the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany reach an understanding with Iran."

Obama, speaking after a meeting with European Council President Donald Tusk on Monday, noted there is not yet an agreement with Iran. If there is, the president said, "then we'll be able to make the case to the American people, and I'm confident we'll be able to implement it."

Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, dismissed the letter as "mostly a propaganda ploy" by critics of his country.

"It is very interesting that while negotiations are still in progress — and while no agreement has been reached — some political pressure groups are so afraid even of the prospect of an agreement that they resort to unconventional methods, unprecedented in diplomatic history," he said in a statement.

In recent weeks, the Obama administration criticized the House Republican leadership for inviting Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress about Iran.

Coats said last week that the pressure from Netanyahu’s speech will help the administration negotiate a better deal.

Contact Maureen Groppe at mgroppe@gannett.com or on Twitter @mgroppe.