The opposition followed just hours after two fellow Democrat senators from Obama’s party – New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand and New Hampshire’s Jeanne Shaheen – declared their support for the global accord.
Advertisement
Despite Engel’s prominence, Schumer’s announcement is far more significant.
The New York senator is among the most influential Jewish lawmakers in the United States.
Schumer said Sunday that he is “studying [the agreement] very carefully”. While the U.S. could unilaterally cause a bring back on all sanctions, a partial snapback for a less severe violation would be hard to obtain because other nations would have to cooperate, Schumer wrote. “There are only two ways to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon: Diplomacy or military force”.
But there was no quick indication that the announcement by Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat and party leader-in-waiting, would trigger a rush of Democratic opposition to the worldwide accord, which aims to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from crippling economic sanctions.
“The main part I find most objectionable is you look at the behaviors of Iran these past years when they had no money and they were still a leading sponsor of worldwide terrorism”, Engel said in a telephone interview early Friday morning, pointing to its financial support for Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime in Syria and the rebels in Yemen.
Schumer’s thoughts stood in sharp contrast to Gillibrand’s. He said the deal had too many weaknesses, and he does not believe Iran will change its own policies.
Yet what is truly remarkable about Schumer’s position on the Iran deal is the statement he published to explain his reasoning.
Schumer’s lengthy statement, which was released while Republicans were holding their first presidential debate in Cleveland, could have been written by Sen. Michigan Rep. Sander Levin, however, has endorsed the deal.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Thursday night he will oppose the U.S./Iran nuclear deal.
Senate Republican leadership says they will vote on a resolution of disapproval related to the Iran nuclear deal when Congress comes back in September from their month-long August recess.
“Without question, other countries will move forward to do a deal with Iran even if the United States withdraws its support. What I’ve heard instead are the same types of arguments that we heard in the run-up to the Iraq War”.
Mitch McConnell, the top Republican lawmaker in the US Senate, has called on Obama to retract his comments, calling them offensive.
The president “is treating this like a political campaign”, McConnell said Thursday. I was told that these issues weren’t on the table during the talks. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a liberal independent, and Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island, are also expected to vote in support of the deal.
Advertisement
Schumer’s decision brought condemnation from some Obama allies who are still upset with his proclamations that the timing for pushing the president’s health-care law through Congress in 2010 was wrong politically.
