Iran deal faces US Congress hurdle

After private meetings in Jeddah on the Red Sea coast, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters that Salman and his defense minister “reiterated their support” for the deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program while expressing reservations about its enforcement.

“The whole reason for Camp David was to bring people together around in an organisational effort to push back against Iran”, Kerry said.

Since Salman took power earlier this year, Riyadh has pursued a more muscular approach to Iran, launching a war against allies of Tehran in Yemen and providing more help for rebels fighting against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Is this really an arms control agreement, like those voluntarily arrived at by equals such as the START accord between the US and the USSR, or is this more like a renegade state, Iran, sanctioned by the worldwide community, now with a heavy burden of proof to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the worldwide community that it has ceased its sanctioned behavior?

And if they succeed – doubtful, because they won’t have the votes to override a presidential veto – then what?

The United States relationship with Gulf countries is complex, affecting stability in the region that holds the world’s largest oil reserves, as well as the security of Israel.

Netanyahu “made it quite clear that he disagreed with us with respect to the nuclear deal and Iran“.

At the same time, J Street, a smaller liberal pro-Israel group, is urging supporters to lobby their lawmakers to support the Iran deal. He has said that military force remains on the table to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, although experts say unilateral strikes by Israel appear highly unlikely for now.

The government of President Hassan Rouhani, facing resistance to the deal from influential conservatives, is seeking to portray it as a victory for Iran. In a written statement, State Department spokesman John Kirby said the United States and the other nations involved in the talks had won agreements from Iran as part of the final deal involving “weaponization, metallurgy, and enrichment-related issues”. Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia, a regional rival of Shiite Iran, worries Tehran could still be able to develop an atomic bomb despite the limitations on its nuclear programme agreed to this month under the deal with Washington and five other major powers.

Saudi Arabia and Israel are “on the same page” with their concerns about the agreement, a Western diplomatic source said.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Monday approving the nuclear agreement. So I believe there’s a smarter, more responsible way to protect our national security.

“Instead of chest-beating that rejects even the idea of talking to our adversaries, which sometimes sounds good in sound bites but accomplishes nothing, we’re seeing that strong and principled diplomacy can give hope of actually resolving a problem peacefully”, Obama said.

USA allies in the Gulf have cautiously welcomed the July 14 deal, but they accuse Tehran of interfering in Arab conflicts, such as Syria, and pushing hard for heightened regional influence.