Battle-hardened from years of negotiations with Iranians, Kerry sharpened his response to U.S. congressional criticism that the deal’s provisions were temporary and would not prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon in the long run. When asked if they felt better off than they were three years ago, 49% of the respondents said yes, while 38% said no.
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While speaking to the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, Kerry warned that blocking the deal was tantamount to putting Tehran on the fast track to making an atomic bomb.
The poll found that 52 percent of Americans think Congress should reject the agreement, while 44 percent said lawmakers should approve the deal.
U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby announced the agenda beginning with Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the president of Egypt on Sunday, and moving to Qatar to meet with senior Gulf officials of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman.
Kerry insisted walking away would isolate the United States. To that end, top administration officials met privately with House Democrats last week. As the Cabinet secretaries testify, members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby, will be dispatching hundreds of its members to Capitol Hill to convince lawmakers to disapprove of the deal. First, it would give them cover in which to continue working on nuclear weapons while under ineffective worldwide supervision designed to prevent that.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Monday that he expected Congress would move forward on a resolution of disapproval to block the deal.
They included fears that the IAEA would fail to detect secret Iranian efforts to produce weapons, especially in the deal’s later years, and that Iran would be able to sanitize sites, like military bases, during a 24-day process in which disputes over agency requests to inspect facilities suspected of housing banned activities are to be resolved.
Peters said he was “still talking to a lot of folks” – both for and against the deal.
Levin stated he believes that Israel, the Middle East and the world are far safer if Iran does not transfer towards possession of a nuclear weapon.
Neither Michigan senator has set a timetable for when they will make a decision.
“Let me underscore, the alternative to the deal that we have reached is not some kind of unicorn fantasy that contemplates Iran ‘s complete capitulation”, Kerry told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “You just need to get smart and figure out that we have all the answers and vote for this thing”, the two-term congressman said in an interview.
Neville Chamberlin signed a deal with the Nazis promising “Peace in Our Time”.
Lew said that other countries would not keep the sanctions against Iran in place.
“We set up something that you can read, and we can read, and everybody can understand what the expectations are”. “It’s a serious issue and I’m studying it carefully and giving it what it deserves”, he said following a classified briefing on the agreement.
Kerry said some opponents of the agreement were misconstruing or misunderstanding the details.
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The European Union will agree to anything that provides cheap oil and open trade even with the worst of the worst. And you will not sanction Iran out of its commitment to what it has a right to.
