Letter to the Hon. Rex Tillerson, Secretary of State, the Hon. James Mattis, Secretary of Defense, the Hon. Steve Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury, the Hon. Rick Perry, Secretary of Energy, the Hon. Dan Coats, Director of National Intelligence - Iran Deal Certification, Additional Information

Letter

Dear Secretaries Tillerson, Mattis, Mnuchin, Perry and Director Coats:

In 2015, the U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA). INARA established the framework for Congressional oversight of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran.

This law requires the President to provide information to Congress on any potentially significant Iranian breach or compliance concern related to the JCPOA within ten calendar days of receiving the information. To date, the Senate has received no such notification and the Administration has provided little public testimony to Congress on the status of Iranian compliance with the agreement. The only such public testimony of which we are aware was that of Air Force General Paul Selva, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during his reconfirmation hearing in July before the Senate Armed Services Committee, in which he noted that U.S. intelligence demonstrates that Iran is abiding by its commitments under the JCPOA. The International Atomic Energy Agency has also recently concluded, in its August 31, 2017 verification report, that Iran is in compliance, a view shared by our P5+1 partners. Indeed, the President himself has twice certified that Iran is complying, and that continuing to abide by the agreement is in the vital national security interests of the United States.

We are unaware of any information in the interim that would argue for a change in those determinations in October.

In light of the upcoming certification decision the President must make with respect to Iran's compliance, if you are aware of any information that would suggest that Iran is no longer complying with the JCPOA, or that would lead the President to conclude that the continued suspension of sanctions is no longer in the vital national security interests of the United States, we request that you provide a written report containing such information and, as appropriate, public testimony promptly to the Senate Committees of jurisdiction with oversight over each of your agencies prior to October 6, 2017.

Sincerely,

United States Senators:

Benjamin L. Cardin

Patrick J. Leahy

Richard J. Durbin

Jack Reed

Maria Cantwell

Sherrod Brown

Mark R. Warner