The US Capitol dome is seen in Washington, US, December 17, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Erin Scott

An Iranian missile attack near an American consulate in northern Iraq drew bipartisan congressional rebuke on Sunday, with several representatives saying the United States should immediately withdraw from ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for a dozen ballistic missiles that struck near a US consulate complex in the Kurdish Regional Government’s capital of Erbil early Sunday.

The IRGC said it attacked the “Zionists’ strategic center of plot and evil acts,” in a statement reported by the Tasnim News Agency. “Once again, we warn the criminal Zionist regime that the repetition of any evil act will draw harsh, decisive and devastating responses,” it said.

Commenting on the attack on Twitter, Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) wrote, “If reports are accurate, the Biden Administration must withdraw its negotiations with Iran. We cannot re-enter a failed JCPOA to further empower Iran and threaten global security.”

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is the nuclear deal reached by Iran and world powers in 2015, which offered Tehran billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for temporary restrictions on its nuclear program. President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018, while the Biden administration joined negotiations in Vienna to revive it.

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) simply commented, “The Biden Administration must end JCPOA negotiations immediately.”

Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) did not call for a halt to the talks, but urged caution, saying, “This attack reinforces the critical nature of JCPOA negotiations. As negotiators continue their work, we must not forget where money will be funneled if terrorist sanctions are lifted on Iran.”

“Iran must know that its destructive behavior throughout the Middle East will not be tolerated, and we must now work to ensure that the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism is never able to threaten the United States or our allies armed with a nuclear weapon,” he added.

Gottheimer and Luria, together with Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), spearheaded a bipartisan letter signed by 21 members of Congress last week that expressed dissatisfaction with reports about US concessions made to Iran during the Vienna talks.

“We will review any agreement closely, but from what we currently understand, it is hard to envision supporting an agreement along the lines being publicly discussed,” the signatories wrote.