The president has been in talks with Iran about a nuclear deal for some time now, and an agreement was almost reached last week. The proposed deal would freeze Iran’s nuclear capabilities for 10 years. But many Republicans in Congress feel that 10 years is not nearly sufficient enough of a ban for a country like Iran, and any type of nuclear allowances to the country is a massive mistake. While these concerns are justified, the real folly Republicans committed was expressing their disconcertment in the form of an open letter to Iran.

While the feelings expressed in the letter were of legitimate origin, the manner in which they were presented was entirely inappropriate, and the letter has since proved to be a source of embarrassment and regret for the Republican Party.

The letter was written by 47 Congressional Republicans who were led by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). And it detailed to Iran how the co-signers despise the agreement. The letter reminded Iran that the president’s term will be ending next year, but Congress will be in office for life. The Republican Party essentially stated that it will be treating the deal as though it was an executive order that is non-binding and can be easily undone.

The reason that the letter has been criticized so much is because it was written to an American enemy and criticized the American government. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who did not sign the letter, summed up his reason for withholding his signature best. It is not necessarily the opinion held by the 47 Republicans that he’s opposed to, but rather the impact the letter could have on union of allies working together to reach a deal. “We’ve got to keep this coalition together,” he said. It is not worth losing allies at such crucial times of negotiation over a deal that is not set in stone.

Even after an agreement is reached, the deal could still be amended or reversed. Therefore, not only was the letter unnecessary, but it was hurtful to the Republicans’ cause. The Huffington Post conducted a survey that showed that 42 percent of Americans thought the GOP’s actions were inappropriate. But another 47 percent didn’t offer an opinion, “more than a third saying they didn’t know enough about the subject.”

These numbers show that before the letter was written, American citizens were not attached to the deal, and could have likely been persuaded to agree with the Republican Party. That is if the GOP had kept the discussion in the U.S. But instead of reaching out the American people, they chose to write an unnecessary letter to Iran. And as a result caused enormous feelings of distrust and betrayal amongst Americans.

Even though none of the congressmen who signed the letter have expressed regret over the issue, other Republicans have come forward and made statements alluding to such feelings. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said, “I think we probably should have had more discussion about it, given the blowback that there is.” While McCain’s statement is not obviously regretful, at least he has taken the initiative to admit that while the motives behind the act were honorable, the act itself was a bad move.

While the actions of the Republicans were not illegal, they are somewhat condemnable. They have legitimate concerns about the tentative deal, but need to work harder within the U.S. in order to secure a better agreement rather than waste time sending letters of criticism to U.S. enemies.

Victoria Razzi is a freshman magazine journalism major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at vcrazzi@syr.edu and followed on twitter at @vrazzi.

Published on March 16, 2015 at 12:52 am