US critics of the nuclear agreement with Iran are turning to the 50 states as it becomes increasingly obvious that Congress won’t be able to kill the deal.

With hawkish Democrats Bob Casey and Chris Coons all but ensuring opponents won’t have a veto-proof majority in the US Senate, the states are coming under pressure to pass their own sanctions. The Republican attorneys general of Oklahoma and Michigan, Scott Pruitt and Bill Schuette, wrote a letter to their counterparts Sept. 1 urging them to do just that.

“The states certainly have numerous moral and reputational reasons to prohibit investment of public assets into companies doing business with Iran and other countries that sponsor terrorism,” they wrote. “Even if it is true that Iran has relinquished its ambitions for a nuclear weapon and that its deal with President [Barack] Obama will prevent such an acquisition — both of which are highly questionable — Iran engages in a range of other reprehensible activities.”

The letter was accompanied by proposed draft legislation that the states that haven’t yet passed such sanctions are invited to use as a template. States have two main avenues for sanctioning Iran: restricting investments by state retirement plans, and barring state agencies from buying goods and services from blacklisted individuals and entities.