Senate Republicans on Tuesday pushed for a final say on the Iran nuclear deal before the congressional review period expires, but Democrats were poised to stop any attempt to undercut the global accord and President Barack Obama’s win on a top foreign policy initiative.
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The procedural vote, which needed support from 60 senators to pass, fell four votes shy: 56-42.
A new CNN/ORC poll finds 59% of Americans disapprove of the way Obama is handling the USA relationship with Iran, and about half would have preferred Congress reject the deal. During the current debate, Democratic leader Harry Reid recalled how his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, repeatedly argued when Democrats controlled the Senate that every important issue should be decided by a 60-vote super-majority.
The Democratic minority leader had offered to allow the Senate to go directly to a vote on final passage, but only if McConnell agreed to a 60-vote threshold for passage.
Congress has just one more day to act on the deal, and some Republican lawmakers have already threatened to force a full vote before the deadline.
Under the agreement, the United States lifts its sanctions on Iran in exchange for Iran temporarily – not permanently – suspending its nuclear program.
Republicans in the U.S. Congress has also expressed grave concerns they say the deal presents to Israel’s security.
Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, defended the need for a second vote, citing changed circumstances on the worldwide front.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the leaders also would discuss efforts to counter the Islamic State group’s activities in the Mideast.
Critics of the proposals to block the Iran deal blasted McConnell and other Senate Republicans for wasting dwindling time ahead of a possible government shutdown. The House voted last week against a measure to approve the deal.
Wilayto said Western economic penalties against Iran were ineffective because the Islamic Republic “refuses to buckle under the pressure of sanctions no matter how heavy they may be”. “But if they’re determined to make that impossible, then at the very least we should be able to provide some protection to Israel and long-overdue relief to Americans who’ve languished in Iranian custody for years“.
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The deal requires Iran to limit its research and development of nuclear weapons for 15 years, according to an article published by the New York Times. His overt lobbying on USA soil angered the White House, which did not invite him to meet with the president during that visit. Charles Schumer – who, last we checked, opposed the Iran deal – proclaiming “fair-minded Americans should acknowledge the president’s strong achievements in combating and containing Iran”.
