Fifteen US Republican governors have vowed to take measures to keep state sanctions against Iran in place after Tehran and the world powers clinched a historical agreement on the Islamic Republics nuclear program.
The governors, including five GOP hopefuls of the 2016 presidential race, wrote a letter to US President Barack Obama expressing their opposition.
Iran and the P5+1 the US, Britain, Russia, China, France, and Germany reached a nuclear conclusion in mid-July after months of negotiations, before and after which Iran has maintained it is not pursuing any military objectives in its nuclear program.
Under the agreement, limits will be put on Irans nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.
If implemented, this agreement would lead to the lifting of United States nuclear-related sanctions on Iran without any guarantee that Irans drive toward obtaining a nuclear weapon will be halted or even slowed, read the letter, further accusing Iran of backing terrorism and seeking to obtain a nuclear weapon.
The letter was part of the Israeli-backed Republican campaign to kill any deal with Tehran, particularly given the Republicans cannot use their lawmakers in the House and Senate to block it.
The lifting of federal sanctions that will result from this agreement will only result in Iran having more money available to fund terrorist groups and attacks, it claimed.
We intend to ensure that the various state-level sanctions that are now in effect remain in effect.
House Speaker John Boehner (pictured above) also threw his support behind the letter, as was expected, urging others to "closely review the facts of the agreement, and join us in standing strong against Iran.
"Every governor has a responsibility to help keep Americans safe, and I strongly support those intending to keep state-level sanctions, said the Republican lawmaker in a statement.