U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) criticized Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday for recent attempts to placate concerns from Iran about the United States’ Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
In addition, Daines said that Kerry should press the Iranian government to end its support for terrorist activity and provide proof of such action.
Daines and 13 of his colleagues, in a letter to Kerry, also asked the secretary to make clear to Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif that changes to the VWP came about because of U.S. national security interests, not Iranian interests.
“Iran-sponsored terrorists and militants are responsible for the death of more than 700 Americans,” the senators wrote. “As you continue to engage with Mr. Zarif, we urge — rather than seeking to placate the complaints of Iran, the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism — you to press him and his government to cease its support for terrorism and provide tangible evidence that it is doing so. We also ask you to clarify to Mr. Zarif and his colleagues that these reforms to the VWP were not drafted with Iranian interests in mind, but U.S. national security interests.”
The FY16 Omnibus, signed into law last month, includes reforms to the VWP to prohibit individuals from traveling to the U.S. if they have visited Iraq, Syria or any other country on the state sponsor of terrorism list since March 2011 or if they hold dual citizenship with one of those countries.
Iran, a designated state sponsor of terrorism, would be subject to the new restrictions. Zarif, however, has expressed frustrations with the restrictions.
In addition to Daines, the letter was signed by U.S. Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL), Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Tom Cotton (R-AR), James Inhofe (R-OK), John Boozman (R-AR), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT).