Tester says he will support Iranian nuclear pact

Over half of the respondents in a CBS News poll released earlier this month said negotiators could have secured a deal more favorable to the U.S. Fifty-three percent said the agreement will be not very effective or not at all effective in preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.

The Republican Party, which along with the Israeli leadership is adamantly opposed to the agreement, has been pressuring wavering Democrats alongside intense lobbying from some Jewish-American groups, chief among them AIPAC.

That Congress could challenge the Obama administration and demand the U.S. renegotiate certain provisions in the Iran nuclear deal is not without precedent, an op-ed by an Arizona State University law professor argued in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday. “In that world, should we find credible evidence that Iran is starting to move toward a nuclear weapon, the United States would nearly certainly consider use of the military option to stop that program”.

Earlier this week, two top Obama administration officials made the case for a deal aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, as four freshman members of Congress from Michigan take part in a congressional trip to Israel.

Kerry’s comments came shortly after Schumer told reporters why he decided last week to oppose the agreement. Speaking at a Reuters Newsmaker event, Kerry said a new structure would be created to replace a UN panel of experts that has been monitoring compliance with the UN sanctions regime.

Kerry said a potential loss of U.S. financial and political clout is something that may not happen overnight.

Overall 18 senators, all caucusing with the Democrats, back the deal.

He said that European governments could walk away from the U.S.-led sanctions strategy against Russian Federation, that the United States and Israel would have no support for military action against Iran, if such action were necessary, and that the U.S. dollar would lose its status as the reserve currency of the world.

“Are you kidding me?”

“If we turn around and nix the deal and then tell them, you’re going to have to obey our rules and sanctions anyway, that is a recipe, very quickly… for the American dollar to cease to be the reserve currency of the world”, he said.

Schumer addressed this point directly at the end of his statement: “I will vote to disapprove the agreement, not because I believe war is a viable or desirable option, nor to challenge the path of diplomacy“. Tammy Baldwin and Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders endorsed the deal, bringing the number of Senate backers to 15. It was a vote of conscience for me. President Barack Obama needs 40 out of 100 senators to block any rejection of the bill from advancing, and 34 to kill any chances of overriding his promised veto of any such measure.