Although some Republican lawmakers may prefer having votes on both resolutions, the legislative calendar won’t likely allow for it. Due to the August recess, lawmakers are expected to only have time for one Iran vote before the September 17 deadline.
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House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, a California Republican, said there was “bipartisan skepticism” in the closed session about whether Iran will keep its commitments to curb its nuclear program.
Himes said administration officials urged members to view the deal in context of where Iran was recently – on the threshold of obtaining nuclear capabilities – and where they are now.
Hearings start in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where three principals of the Obama administration tasked with crafting the deal – US Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew – plan to testify.
The agreement was struck last week among Iran and six major world powers.
Obama has said he will veto any measure to derail the accord, meaning opponents would need two-thirds majorities in the Senate and House to prevail. “And the prime minister made it quite clear that he disagreed with us with respect to the nuclear deal”, Carter said at an airbase in Jordan.
The UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution Monday in the first of a series of steps that – as Tehran’s compliance is verified – are to gradually unwind the worldwide sanctions that have choked the Iranian economy.
A group of orthodox Jewish counter-demonstrators wave American and Iranian flags as they stand amid protestors who were demonstrating against the nuclear deal with Iran during a rally in Times Square in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 22, 2015.
Washington’s Middle East allies fear that lifting the sanctions will expand Iran’s influence in the region.
Netanyahu issued a statement late Tuesday calling the Iran agreement “a bad deal” and “a historic mistake”.
The agreement has serious flaws, Dorton said. “I’m reading it, reading everything”, he said, motioning to a folder under his arm. They are expected to spend upwards of $20 million, one source said.
We’ll email you whenever we publish another article by J. “I don’t see how a member of Congress can vote for an agreement not knowing what the full scope of the agreement actually is”.
“I am under no illusions about the Iranian regime – its support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, its abysmal human rights record, and its brutal suppression of its own people during the 2009 election”, Durbin continued, but “The agreement before us is a comprehensive solution to the nuclear weapons issue, and without a nuclear weapon to embolden Iran, the agreement allows the USA and its allies to better deter Iran’s destabilizing actions in the region”.
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King Salman, who inherited the Saudi throne in January, expressed doubt about the nuclear deal’s verification process, as well as questioning the “snap-back” mechanism for re-imposing sanctions if Iran violated its terms, Mr Carter told reporters. “We think everyone benefits from that”. It’s the only deal that’s on the table.
