Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon reports on an interesting proposal in the U.S. House.
Republican legislation in the House would bar the Biden administration from spending taxpayer dollars to advance a nuclear deal with Iran until the hardline regime severs its cash ties to China and terminates support for Hamas, according to a copy of the bill obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Rep. Bob Good (R., Va.) will introduce the legislation on Thursday, sources told the Free Beacon, putting Iran’s alliance with China center stage as both regimes work to implement a 25-year cooperation agreement worth $400 billion.
Good’s bill, which is likely to attract widespread support in the narrowly GOP-controlled House, blocks the Biden administration from spending taxpayer funds on diplomacy related to a revamped version of the 2015 nuclear deal, which the United States has been pursuing off-and-on since President Joe Biden took office. Elements of the bill are likely to be popular with Republicans in the Senate who have made similar proposals.
Unlike similar legislative efforts pushed by Republicans during the past several years, Good’s bill specifically targets the Tehran-Beijing axis, requiring the United States to cease all negotiations with Iran until it “terminates strategic security and military partnerships with China,” according to the bill and a fact sheet being circulated by the lawmaker’s office. It also takes the unprecedented step of tying future U.S.-led diplomatic talks with Iran to a requirement that China end its genocide against the Uyghur ethnic minority.
Prior to restarting nuclear negotiations with Iran, the Biden administration would have to certify to Congress that China’s genocide has ended, its alliance with Iran has been severed, and that Tehran has ceased financial and military support for Hamas. The requirements imposed by the bill erect a massive hurdle for any administration to vault if it wants to engage in diplomacy with Iran, according to Good, who said that in light of recent events in the region, “the U.S. should be holding the CCP accountable and standing up to Iran.”
