No matter the distastefulness of Iran’s other deleterious activity in the region, the sole objective of these talks has been to divorce Iran from a nuclear weapon so that the worldwide community can focus our attention on addressing Iran’s other malevolent behavior.
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The American public seems to be answering that question with a resounding yes. Adding fuel to the fire, he likened Iranian hardliners opposed to the deal, chanting death to America, to Republicans.
Now that the pact has been finalized, Kerry said such a heavy-handed approach was an option no longer.
SEC. JOHN KERRY: Are you kidding me?
Schumer also said that sanctions aimed at companies that do business with Iran could force US allies and trade partners back to the negotiating table.
Engel, pointing to Iran’s support of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Assad regime in Syria, and the rebels in Yemen, asked, “Can you imagine how much more destructive that they can be if they are awash in cash?”
They said by rejecting the deal reached with the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, China “would weaken the deterrent value of America’s military option”.
“We will hope that Iran would change and we will certainly explore diplomatically – it would be diplomatic malpractice not to go out and try to explore that possibility, and we’ll do so with our eyes wide open”, he said.
He suggested it was illegitimate to worry that Iran would be a “nuclear threshold nation” in 15 years or 20 years, because it already is one today.
Under a deal negotiated between the White House and Congress, if a disapproval resolution stands, Obama will be barred from waiving U.S. sanctions as part of U.S. responsibility under the agreement.
While they bitterly fought among themselves in front of television cameras watched lived by millions of people, they were unanimous on withdrawing the Iranian nuclear deal, if elected to power in the 2016 presidential elections.
Meanwhile, the president has promised to veto any action taken by Congress to block the deal. But I accept that the flawless should not become the enemy of the good, and I understand that the nature of a negotiation by definition involves not getting everything you want. The choice is that stark.
Durbin, who is Schumer’s former roommate in Washington and would be a likely candidate for the top post in his party, said he wasn’t surprised his colleague came out against the deal.
He said U.S. Treasury experts “are doing a full dive on how this works and what the implications are”.
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Schumer’s opposition was seen as a blow to the Obama administration, but since Schumer’s announcement, a handful of Senate Democrats and several House Democrats have announced their support.
