At the Palace of Versailles, on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in France, President Donald Trump on Wednesday formally signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran. A senior U.S. official disclosed the full text ahead of the ceremony.
The MOU states that the United States pledges “immediately” to “issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, and all associated services, including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.” These waivers presumably mean the removal of U.S. statutory sanctions against Iran.
The president lacks the authority under domestic law to waive these sanctions. The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) of 2015, a law requiring congressional review of nuclear deals with Iran, temporarily bars a president from doing just that. The executive branch has counterarguments, and it’s doubtful that any institution will make the president comply. But INARA, properly read, bars the president from acting until Congress has had its review.
INARA was enacted with broad bipartisan support. It sought to make President Barack Obama submit the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran—to Congress, force his administration to publicly defend it, and give Congress a short window to review and possibly reject it, during which the president was barred from providing Iran with certain sanctions relief.
