Vice President Joe Biden slammed an open letter Monday signed by 47 Republican senators to Iran as a "dangerous" attempt at undercutting a sitting president as he tries to reach a nuclear deal with the Islamic nation.
The letter, sent Monday, warned Iran to think twice about entering into a deal regarding its nuclear program with President Obama, who as the senators noted, will be termed out of office in January 2017.
They, on the other hand, could "remain in office well beyond then — perhaps even decades."
With that in mind, the senators warned Iran that they will consider any nuclear deal not approved by the Congress "as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei."
"The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stoke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time," the letter warned.
Acknowledging that there is no "perfect solution" to the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, Biden slammed the GOP senators' letter as "beneath the dignity of an institution I revere."
"This letter, in the guise of a constitutional lesson, 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," Biden wrote.
He continued:
In thirty-six years in the United States Senate, I cannot recall another instance in which Senators wrote directly to advise another country—much less a longtime foreign adversary— that the President does not have the constitutional authority to reach a meaningful understanding with them.
This letter sends a highly misleading signal to friend and foe alike that that our Commander-in-Chief cannot deliver on America's commitments—a message that is as false as it is dangerous."
The letter comes as negotiators from the U.S. and four other world powers work to reach a deal aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program.
The goal for the coalition is to limit Iran's ability to enrich uranium to the point that enough of it could be used to build a bomb. In exchange for doing so under the eye of international inspectors for 10 years, the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia would ease economic sanctions against Iran.
Proponents of the deal say it would also push the "break out" time it would take for Iran to build a bomb from the current estimate of two to three months, to one year — a figure Israel has disputed.
Critics say the the deal would do nothing to dismantle Iran's nuclear infrastructure or ultimately ensure that the Islamic nation won't someday build nuclear weapons.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas responded to critics of the letter in a CNN interview, calling Iranians "nothing but hardline Islamic extremists who have been killing Americans around the world for 35 years."
Any deal reached with Obama, he said, would "pave the way" for Iran developing nuclear weapons, presenting an even bigger threat to the U.S. and its allies.
He went on to call Iran "the greatest threat we face because they are using the most advanced weapons that science can provide."
Even if a deal with Iran could buy more time, Cotton said he and his colleagues prefer a "permanent solution" that would ensure Iran never gets to the point where it can build a nuclear bomb.
Iran's foreign minister brushed the letter aside in a statement, saying it "has no legal value and is mostly a propaganda ploy."
"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, Javad Zarif said.
He went on to argue that not only do the senators not understand international law, "but are not fully cognizant of the nuances of their own Constitution"
He added: "I wish to enlighten the authors that if the next administration revokes any agreement with the stroke of a pen, as they boast, it will have simply committed a blatant violation of international law."