WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, released the following statement after voting to support the bipartisan Iran Nuclear Review Act, which passed the Senate by a vote of 98-1 and allows for congressional review and oversight of a nuclear deal reached between the P5+1 and Iran.

“The best hope for divorcing Iran from a nuclear weapons future is through diplomacy—through a negotiated agreement that rolls back Iran’s nuclear program in a transparent and verifiable way. Our negotiators still have a lot of work to do, but we are closer now than we have been in decades. That’s why I believe strongly that we should give our negotiators the space to do their jobs, and to see if such a deal is ultimately possible. A nuclear agreement won't turn Iran from a bad to good actor, but it will take this particularly dangerous issue off the table.

“I voted for this bill because it smartly postpones a congressional vote on the negotiations until the negotiations are finished, and requires us to weigh in on the agreement in a reasonable 30-day timeframe. With the changes made in the Foreign Relations Committee, this bill is basically benign, with little to no effect on the negotiations. Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Cardin deserve a lot of credit for working together and finalizing a deal that reasserts the role of Congress in foreign affairs without interfering with the ongoing negotiations.”

Last month, Murphy joined his colleagues on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in voting unanimously to pass the Iran Nuclear Review Act out of committee.