Bernie Sanders pushes back on Obama’s comments on Iran deal opponents

President Barack Obama, in a Sunday broadcast interview, warned congressional rejection of the deal would make the central goal of keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons harder to achieve. Finally, he points out it provides Iran with tens of billions of dollars it could spend on subsidizing terrorism and other violent pursuits.

Senator Schumer broke his silence on the Iran Deal. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) is the latest Democrat to defy the president on his highly unpopular nuclear deal.

Proof of that is the White House’s quick expression of confidence that, even with Schumer and other pro-Israel Democrats opposing, it can prevent two-thirds of both chambers of Congress from overriding a veto should Congress oppose the pact. Politicians would then have to find enough votes to override Mr Obama.

While the accord seeks to reduce Iran’s ability to enrich uranium and sets standards for inspections of the nuclear program, many Republicans and some Democrats oppose the deal.

“And the worldwide unity that we’ve brought about over the last several years would fray, not just with respect to sanctions, but with respect to the world’s attitude about U.S. leadership and how they gauge who’s at fault in this dispute between the U.S. and Iran“, he said. Schumer said in a statement that he spent the last three weeks carefully studying the plan and questioning dozens of proponents and opponents before coming to this conclusion.

Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey and Steve Israel among New York Democrats who will vote against the deal in September.

He says sanctions that the agreement calls for lifting could be re-imposed if Iran does not live up to the terms of the deal.

But Schumer and Elngel’s colleague from New York, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, announced her intention to vote in favor of the deal while calling it “imperfect.”. But he conceded that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Democrats considered “the voting record of those who would like to lead the caucus” when choosing their next leader.

Obama showed no interest in taking back his comments in the interview with CNN, however, reflecting the intense debate over the Iran deal.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi is said to be assembling a team aimed at securing the necessary votes to uphold the veto.

Congress will pass a resolution of approval or disapproval sometime next month.