Sen. Robert Menendez announced Tuesday he will oppose President Barack Obama’s nuclear said-obama-used-something-that-immediately-turned-heads/” class=”local_link” target=”_blank”>deal with Iran and said he regrets not pushing harder this year for sanctions legislation that he argued could have derailed the agreement months ago.
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He also denied that rejecting the deal would set any precedents, as there have been “over 200 times in history where Congress has rejected or saw significant modifications of treaties and global agreements, including 80 bilateral ones”.
He also said the agreement only shrinks Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, not dismantle it.
“Let’s close the Fordow facility, this is a uranium enrichment site built deep inside of a mountain”, Menendez said referring to Iran’s Fordo facility, near the city of Qom.
In a statement, the Democrat said despite having objections about Iran’s intentions, he is willing to “give this agreement the opportunity to succeed”.
The deal reached by negotiators from the U.S. and Iran as well as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China would limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. The U.S. says Iran is an active state sponsor of terrorism.
Menendez, who still is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has echoed Republican concerns that the deal doesn’t eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Congress has until September 17 to pass a resolution of disapproval to sink the deal.
According to a list compiled by The Hill that details where senators stand on the deal, 21 Democrats have announced their support, while 23 have yet to make a decision.
There are 54 Republican senators, but not all have made up their minds on the deal, though none has declared support.
In an interview with Army Radio, Tuesday morning, Elkin said he was disappointed that the rabbis have not joined the majority of pro-Israel and Jewish organizations who are campaigning against the deal.
Mr. Menendez in his speech accused negotiators from the United States and its five negotiating partners of squandering leverage created by sanctions that have crippled the Iranian economy and said they should have walked away from the talks. Administration officials have said they are optimistic about their chances.
Republicans and other opponents of the deal have been spending millions on ad buys in the hopes of affecting the voter bases for potentially vulnerable Democrats.
“This will be one of the most important votes I will ever take as a member of the Senate”, Georgia’s senior senator said.
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Failing to follow through on the agreement would not only damage the U.S.’s global leadership, Cohen said, but would “result in a much more nuclear-capable Iran free to proceed as they wish without the thorough oversight this agreement allows”.
