Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act

The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA) was passed by Congress to give the legislative branch the power to review any major nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran. The law establishes a 60-calendar-day congressional review period during which Congress can disapprove a nuclear agreement before it takes effect. INARA was designed to ensure that Congress, not the president alone, has a voice in binding commitments involving Iran's nuclear program.

In practice, INARA created a framework where the president negotiates a deal but Congress must either approve it or pass a disapproval resolution that the president can then veto. This shifts the burden: instead of requiring Congress to ratify an agreement by two-thirds vote (as with a formal treaty), INARA only requires Congress to disapprove by a simple majority. During the 2015 JCPOA negotiations, Congress used this power to scrutinize the agreement's terms but ultimately couldn't muster the votes to block it. In 2026, some senators have invoked INARA as a precedent for requiring congressional review of any Iran nuclear MOU, even if the administration frames it as an executive agreement rather than a formal treaty.

INARA raises fundamental questions about separation of powers: does Congress have a right to review all major international agreements, or only those explicitly called treaties? Presidents often argue that MOUs and executive agreements fall outside INARA's scope, while Congress contends that any agreement committing the U.S. to lift congressionally-imposed sanctions must face congressional scrutiny. The statute applies only to Iran agreements, not to other international negotiations, making it a specialized tool for legislative oversight of Iran policy.