WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is pressing the White House to oppose Iran’s bid to join the World Trade Organization, citing concern that admission could constrain U.S. ability to impose future sanctions on Iran.
The pressure from lawmakers illustrates the political crosscurrents the Obama administration faces as Tehran wants to integrate into the global economy after reaching a landmark nuclear accord last year. Iran signaled it wanted to move toward joining the trade body after completion of the nuclear deal.
In a letter sent Thursday, GOP Reps. Peter Roskam of Illinois and Dave Reichert of Washington and Democratic Reps. Juan Vargas of California and Grace Meng of New York urged U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman to resist Iran’s efforts to join the international group.
"Iranian accession to the WTO could seriously complicate our ability to combat Iran’s support for terrorism, human rights violations, ballistic missile program and other illicit activity,” the lawmakers wrote, repeating baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic and hostile U.S. position against Tehran.
All four lawmakers opposed the deal the U.S. struck with Iran imposing restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities for at least 10 years in exchange for the lifting of U.S., European Union and United Nations sanctions.
Under terms of the nuclear deal, the U.S. committed to freeing as much as $100 billion in Iranian oil money frozen in overseas accounts. The administration retains its policy to impose sanctions on Iran for certain other activities, such as ballistic missile tests or alleged human rights abuses.
The lawmakers said in Thursday’s letter that they worried that the WTO rules could limit sanctions the U.S. might want to levy on Iran.
A senior administration official said the White House wasn’t currently working to help Iran gain entrance into the world trade body.
"The WTO accession process is based on consensus, and as of now, there are a number of countries that oppose appointing a chair to Iran’s working party on accession,” the official said, describing the process involved in joining. "The U.S. also does not currently support naming a chair.”
Since the nuclear deal last year, countries such as Oman and Switzerland have pressed for forming a special committee of the WTO to address Iran’s bid. Iran’s regional rivals, particularly Saudi Arabia, have opposed that effort.
The George W. Bush administration once pledged to support Iran’s bid to join the WTO if a nuclear agreement was reached.