On the conference call were a plethora of progressive organizations and the coalition that carried over from his 2008 and 2012 campaigns, like Obama For America, MoveOn and Americans United for Change, among many others. But she and retired U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering agree that without a deal, there would be nothing stopping Iran from getting the bomb, and a nuclear arms race in the Middle East would be likely.
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U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday told groups that support the Iran nuclear deal to make their voices heard to Congress to counter the millions of dollars in lobbying by those who want to derail the agreement.
But opponents of the deal must muster two-thirds majorities in both chambers of Congress to override the veto Obama has promised of any would-be deal-killing bill.
Congress has until mid-September to decide whether or not to approve the sanctions relief for nuclear restrictions deal reached between Iran and six major powers on July 14.
On Tuesday, the White House won the backing of Democratic Rep. Sander Levin, a Jewish lawmaker from Michigan.
“That’s not a practical alternative”, he said.
Citing almost 80 multilateral agreements Congress has either rejected or for which it has required amendments, he says, “Congress should require the administration to renegotiate certain terms of the proposed [deal] and resubmit the amended agreement to Congress”.
In addition to Dempsey, Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Ash Carter, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Critics argue that the deal would essentially legitimize Iran as a nuclear threshold state.
Yet many regional experts say that prospects for wooing the Europeans to join the US in pressing for a tougher deal, if Congress rejects the one now before it, are dim.
The celebrities go on to describe the deal as “strong” and the best way to keep Iran from a bomb and to avoid war.
“It places no limits on our forces, our partnerships and alliances, our intensive and ongoing security cooperation, or on our development and fielding of new military capabilities – capabilities we will continue to advance”, he told the panel.
“The negotiating deal does not alleviate our concerns in those five areas”, he said, “[or] change the military options at our disposal.
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“That’s why we are under instructions from the president to preserve, and indeed we are improving – and I can’t get into that here – the military option”, Carter said. “It is not shared with the world, but we do get briefed on it”. “Any deal is bad because it means living with the Islamic Republic”.
