Dan Pfeiffer: GOPs Iran Strategy Very Dangerous (Mar. 11, 2015) | Charlie Rose
Former Obama Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer tells Charlie Rose that Congressional Republicans are trying to do everything to nullify [Obama #39;s] win in 2012 including attempts to derail...
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Dan Pfeiffer: GOPs Iran Strategy Very Dangerous (Mar. 11, 2015) | Charlie Rose - Video
Story highlights Report: Iran's leader accuses world powers of "deception, trickery and backstabbing" in nuclear talks Ayatollah Khamenei also criticizes a letter sent by U.S. Republican senators to Iran
He also criticized a letter sent by 47 U.S. Republican senators to Iran's leaders, which threatened to scupper any deal if a Republican President is elected next year, Iran's official Press TV reported.
"Of course, I'm concerned because the other side is into deception, trickery and backstabbing," Khamenei is quoted as saying in a speech in Tehran.
He suggested that the letter was part of a U.S. strategy of last-minute reversal aimed at undermining a comprehensive deal covering Iran's nuclear ambitions, Press TV said.
"This is part of their ploys and tricks," said Khamenei.
Iran faces a March 24 deadline to reach a deal over its nuclear program. Several interim agreements have been made in recent months, though a long-term pact so far has been elusive.
The six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France, plus Germany, a group known as the P5+1 -- are seeking a deal that will ensure that Iran doesn't develop nuclear arms.
Officials in Tehran have publicly insisted they want a nuclear program for energy purposes, not to create atomic weaponry.
The Republican senators' decision to write to Iran's leaders has stirred up a political firestorm in the United States.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry denounced the letter Wednesday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, calling it a breach of "more than two centuries of precedent" and factually incorrect.
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Iran's leader accuses world powers of trickery
Story highlights Report: Iran's leader accuses world powers of "deception, trickery and backstabbing" in nuclear talks Ayatollah Khamenei also criticizes a letter sent by U.S. Republican senators to Iran
He also criticized a letter sent by 47 U.S. Republican senators to Iran's leaders, which threatened to scupper any deal if a Republican President is elected next year, Iran's official Press TV reported.
"Of course, I'm concerned because the other side is into deception, trickery and backstabbing," Khamenei is quoted as saying in a speech in Tehran.
He suggested that the letter was part of a U.S. strategy of last-minute reversal aimed at undermining a comprehensive deal covering Iran's nuclear ambitions, Press TV said.
"This is part of their ploys and tricks," said Khamenei.
Iran faces a March 24 deadline to reach a deal over its nuclear program. Several interim agreements have been made in recent months, though a long-term pact so far has been elusive.
The six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France, plus Germany, a group known as the P5+1 -- are seeking a deal that will ensure that Iran doesn't develop nuclear arms.
Officials in Tehran have publicly insisted they want a nuclear program for energy purposes, not to create atomic weaponry.
The Republican senators' decision to write to Iran's leaders has stirred up a political firestorm in the United States.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry denounced the letter Wednesday at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, calling it a breach of "more than two centuries of precedent" and factually incorrect.
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Iran accuses world leaders of trickery
Irans supreme leader expressed concern Thursday that nuclear talks with the United States could face new hurdles, saying a letter of warning from Republican senators signaled a collapse of political ethics in Washington.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested that internal divisions in Washington make Iranian negotiators question the U.S. ability to follow through with the current talks over ways to monitor and limit Tehrans nuclear program.
Isnt this the ultimate degree of the collapse of political ethics and the U.S. systems internal disintegration? Khamenei was quoted by the official IRNA news agency in his first public statements since the GOP letter saying any possible accord could be undone unless it had congressional approval.
Khamenei, who has final say in all key Iranian decisions, also predicted additional complications ahead for the nuclear talks with the U.S. and other world powers.
Of course I am worried, Khamenei was quoted by Irans Mehr news agency, because the other side is known for opacity, deceit and backstabbing.
[Read: GOP contenders for White House embrace hard line against Iran]
Talks between Iran and world powers are scheduled to resume Sunday in efforts to reach a general framework before the end of the month.
The central issue remains the extent of Irans uranium enrichment program. The West and its allies are concerned that Iran could eventually produce warhead-grade material. Iran insists it does not seek atomic arms, but does not want to rely on outside sources for nuclear fuel for peaceful reactors.
Every time we reach a stage where the end of the negotiations is in sight, the tone of the other party, particularly the Americans, becomes harsher, harder and more aggressive, IRNA quoted Khamenei as saying. This is the nature of their tricks and deceptions.
The Republican letter, signed by 47 senators, advised Irans leaders that any nuclear pact could be at risk of being rejected in the future unless lawmakers are allowed a voice on the deal.
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Irans leader: Fall of U.S. political ethics highlighted by GOP letter
Story highlights White House, many Republicans disagree over deal terminology, requirements At some point, Congress will weigh in on some aspect of a prospective agreement
According to the White House, only if the President of the United States says it is.
That's infuriating Republicans and even some Democrats, who are demanding that the Obama administration submit any final nuclear deal with Iran to Congress for approval.
"This is clearly a treaty," Arizona Sen. John McCain told reporters Tuesday. "They can call it a banana, but it's a treaty."
Kerry denounces GOP letter to Iran leaders
The GOP position could jeopardize the long-term survival of any Iran deal, and it represents the party's newest clash with President Barack Obama over the limits of executive authority, as Republicans object to a pact they warn could eventually give Tehran a nuclear bomb.
It's that skepticism that has largely led the White House to define the deal as a "nonbinding agreement" rather than a "treaty," which the Constitution requires Senate "advice and consent" on.
The distinction -- and whether it can legitimately be used to shut out Congress -- turns on complicated and unresolved questions of constitutional law. While Republicans call foul, the administration defends the differentiation as perfectly sound, and no surprise.
Secretary of State John Kerry stressed Wednesday that the administration never intended to negotiate a treaty.
"We've been clear from the beginning. We're not negotiating a 'legally binding plan.' We're negotiating a plan that will have in it a capacity for enforcement," he said at a Senate hearing.
Read more here:
Iran deal: A treaty or not a treaty and why you should care