GOP senators' letter to Iran is 'dangerous'

As you may know, 47 Republican senators, including Montana’s junior senator, Steve Daines, recently sent a warning letter to Iranian leaders threatening to blow up any diplomatic deal negotiated by President Obama.

This letter wasn’t just political sabatage — it was a dangerous attempt to undermine negotiations with Iran. The leader of the letter, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has explicitly stated that the goal of congressional action is to make talks with Iran fail.

These Republicans should be held accountable for their disrespectful, dangerous, and purely political action, which risks blowing up the president’s diplomatic efforts and putting us on a path to war.

The chance represented by the Iran talks is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to resolve one of America’s biggest security concerns without dropping a single bomb or risking an American life. 

I hope my members of Congress will oppose two bills that could lead to a collapse of the talks: the Menendez-Kirk sanctions bill (S. 269) and the Corker-Graham bill (S. 615) mandating an an “up or down” vote on any agreement.

If Congress kills these negotiations or vetoes a final deal, Iran is likely to unfreeze its nuclear program, which means either Iran gets a nuclear bomb or we have to fight another war in the Middle East.

The way to avoid those awful outcomes is for Congress to let diplomacy work! —Edd Blackler, Bigfork