The North Dakota Democrat’s declaration Thursday gave Democrats 37 votes – or three more than the 34 votes necessary to sustain Obama’s promised veto of legislation aimed at blocking the deal. Larijani, who backs the agreement reached with the West, said this week during a visit to the United States that “there will be heated discussions and debate in the Iranian parliament” about the deal.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran’s arch regional enemy, insisted Thursday most Americans agreed with him about the dangers posed by Tehran, even as he lost his battle to persuade Congress to reject the deal once Mr. Obama had bagged enough votes to get it upheld.
Second, because the deal provides Iran with near-immediate sanctions relief in the form of the release of billions of dollars in assets, approval of the deal will allow Iran to pursue and accelerate its ongoing campaigns to expand its pernicious influence in the Middle East, to undermine America’s allies in the region and to finance global terrorism.
“The bottom line is that we know Iran was developing a nuclear weapon”, Cardin wrote in an editorial for the Washington Post. “But I can assure you, we will coordinate in every possible way with Israel with respect to Israel’s concern”. It is that not one – not one – of the 301 Republican members of Congress (the largest Republican majority since 1929-31) supports the deal, despite the overwhelming evidence that the accord, while far from flawless, is the best achievable – as nearly all Democrats concluded after often agonised review.
Last month, Boteach stood together with Governor Chris Christie, also running for president in the Republican party urged his “soul friend” to oppose the deal. Iran has said it wants only peaceful nuclear energy.
As of Friday opponents of the deal could lose only four more senators or risk a filibuster, after Democratic Sens. The Constitution requires, in Article II, Section 2, that the president of the United States “shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur”. If Obama is forced to veto congressional disapproval of the deal, there’s a message in that. “After 10 to 15 years, it would leave Iran with the option to produce enough enriched fuel for a nuclear weapon in a short time”, he wrote. USA sanctions against Iran now in effect will continue to apply, as the U.S. Government made no commitment under the JCPOA to lift primary sanctions applicable to US persons up until Termination Day.
The other two senators opposing the deal are Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Chuck Schumer of New York. Michael Bennet of Colorado announced that he would back the deal.
In response to these undeniable realities, we have successfully built a global coalition of countries over the past decade united in their determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon because they, too, see clearly the threat Iran would pose.
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The White House appears to be operating according to another George Costanza maxim: “It’s not a lie if you believe it”.
