Chuck Schumer dealt a blow to President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, announcing during the Republican presidential debate Thursday night that he planned to vote against the agreement now under review in Congress.
Advertisement
And Schumer is not the only Democrat coming out against the deal.
“Does the rest of the world take seriously the United States’ ability to craft global agendas, to reach worldwide agreements, to deliver on them in ways that garner the respect and the adherence from other countries?” he said.
The president, who has compared Republican opponents to the hard-liners in Iran, criticized GOP lawmakers for opposing the deal before reading its documents.
“I will vote to disapprove the agreement, not because I believe war is a viable or desirable option, nor to challenge the path of diplomacy“, he added later.
“I do think that it is even conceivable that Saudi Arabia and Iran, at some point, would begin to recognize that their enemy is chaos as much as anything else”, Obama said.
“Schumer is pretty confident the administration is not going to need his vote to get this deal approved”, said Skidmore College Professor Ron Seyb.
According to Schumer, he examined three aspects of the agreement: restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program during the next ten years, limits after that period and what he called “non-nuclear components and consequences of a deal”.
“While inspectors would likely be able to detect radioactive isotopes at a site after 24 days, that delay would enable Iran to escape detection of any illicit building and improving of possible military dimensions (PMD) - the tools that go into building a bomb but don’t emit radioactivity”, Schumer said.
But other Democrats have also voiced concerns.
“To me, the very real risk that Iran will not moderate and will, instead, use the agreement to pursue its nefarious goals is too great”, he said.
Schumer, expected to be the next Democratic leader of the Senate, has become the first Senate Democrat to oppose the agreement.
Rep. Eliot Engle, D-N.Y., the leading Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has also come out against the deal, despite a one-on-one meeting with the president last week. “It’s those hardliners chanting “Death to America” who have been most opposed to the deal”.
Advertisement
Obama says resolving the Iranian nuclear issue makes it possible to open broader talks with Iran on other issues.
