A group of 46 US retired generals and admirals are urging President Joe Biden and Congress to reject the new nuclear deal currently being negotiated with Iran.

In an open letter published on Wednesday, they said this “dangerous” agreement is “poised to instantly fuel explosive Iranian aggression and pave Iran’s path to become a nuclear power, threatening the American homeland and the very existence of America’s regional allies.”

According to authors of the letter, which was penned in coordination with the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), the accord currently being negotiated “will enable the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism to cast its own nuclear shadow over the Middle East.”

Calling the potential new deal “shorter and weaker” than the original agreement, they said it could “leave Iran twice as close to a nuclear weapon” as the 2015 accord, would “allow restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program to start to lapse in two years”, and would “not prohibit Iran’s development of intercontinental ballistic missiles”.

The retired American military leaders also voiced opposition to removing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which they described as Iran’s “main terrorist wing responsible for the deaths of at least 600 American troops”, off the US terrorist list, a key Iranian demand.

Lifting sanctions on Iran would “earn hundreds of billions of dollars for the radical regime in Tehran to fuel greater aggression against U.S. soldiers and our allies in the region”, they also warned.

The letter also noted that Moscow has played a “central role” in crafting the draft deal at a time when Russia is “ruthlessly attacking [Ukraine] and, by brandishing its nuclear weapons, forcing the rest of the world largely to stand on the sidelines”.