Secretary of State John Kerry's love affair with Iran continues. Now, Republican lawmakers are blasting the former senator after learning that he sent a letter to his Iranian counterpart assuring that the Obama administration could and would help Iran skirt visa restrictions passed by Congress.
In a December 19 letter to sent to his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Kerry suggested that the Obama administration could bypass current visa restrictions for the Iranian regime, Fox News reports:
“I am also confident that the recent changes in visa requirements passed in Congress, which the Administration has the authority to waive, will not in any way prevent us from meeting our [nuclear deal] commitments, and that we will implement them so as not to interfere with legitimate business interests of Iran,” he said.
Kerry’s letter to Zarif assured that the U.S. would “adhere to the full measure of our commitments.” As for changes to the visa program, Kerry floated several alternative options for easing any impact on Iran – including waiving the new requirements.
“To this end, we have a number of potential tools available to us, including multiple entry ten-year business visas, programs for expediting business visas, and the waiver authority provided under the new legislation,” he wrote.
The issue Kerry mentioned in his letter concerns the US visa waiver program. New changes have placed stricter guidelines on people traveling from Iran, Iraq, Syria and Sudan, all of whom cannot enter the US without a visa.
“Instead of bending over backwards to try to placate the Iranian regime, the White House needs to be holding it accountable for its recent missile tests, its continued support for terrorism, and its wrongful imprisonment of Americans,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce told Fox News in a statement.
Officials in Tehran are none too pleased about the visa restrictions and have reportedly been complaining about how they will negatively affect renewed relations with Iran.
But House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., voiced concern on Monday that Kerry was proposing a “blanket” waiver to accommodate Iran’s complaints. He said that is not Congress’ intent.
“Contrary to what the Secretary of State seems to be saying to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, it was not and has never been Congress’s intent to allow the Administration to grant a blanket waiver to travellers from Iran in order to facilitate the implementation of the Iran deal,” he said in a statement.
McCarthy said the point of the legislation was to strengthen security and “keep the American people safe from terrorism and from foreign travelers who potentially pose a threat to our homeland.”
Kerry’s assurances also raised concerns that the U.S. may be backing down to Iran’s complaints while at the same time reluctant to punish Tehran for its own potential violations.
“Instead of undermining Congressional intent regarding the visa waiver program, the White House should instead focus on Iran’s repeated violations of the U.N. Security Council's bans on missile tests,” McCarthy said. “Iran’s unwillingness to follow these international agreements should be a red flag that the Iran nuclear deal isn’t worth the paper it is written on.”
Indeed.
Meanwhile, the State Department is downplaying Kerry's assurance to Iran. During a Monday briefing State Department spokesman John Kirby said that Kerry made it clear that we would "implement this new legislation so as not to interfere with legitimate business interests of Iran" but that the law would still be followed.
One would hope that the Secretary of State would adhere to the law without that point needing to be clarified in a press briefing.
Lawful or not, Kerry's letter will predictably be used to bolster Iranian propaganda. It was reportedly first published by the National Iranian American Council.
