Senate

Cantwell backs Iran deal

by Jordain Carney - 09/08/15 6:21 PM ET

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said Tuesday she supports the Iran deal, becoming the last Senate Democrat to take a position on the agreement.

“I am supportive of the deal,” she told reporters. “Anything that can move it forward I’ll support.”

{mosads}Cantwell is the 42nd senator to back the agreement, after Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) also came out in support earlier Tuesday.

Cantwell added that she would also support a filibuster of the vote on a resolution to disapprove the deal.

If Obama can get 41 senators to vote “no” on a cloture vote, he’ll be able to keep a resolution of disapproval from passing the Senate. If not, he’ll be forced to veto the resolution, marking the fifth time he would use a veto since taking office.

Cantwell’s support comes after near-silence on the agreement since it was announced in mid-July. She was expected to support the deal, being a blue-state Democrat who isn’t up for reelection next year.

In a separate statement, Cantwell said the United States “must remain committed to holding Iran accountable for its behavior in the region… through the U.S. sanctions that will remain in place. “

“Nothing in the [nuclear agreement] prohibits or in any way limits the ability of the United States to take these actions,” she added. “The global community should do the same.”

She suggested to reporters Tuesday that she was waiting until after she met with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz before announcing her decision.

“We always said we wanted to return and have a closed door briefing with the secretary of Energy — which we did today to answer questions — about our technological capabilities on detection, make sure we knew where we were,” she added.

The Senate is expected to spend this week debating a resolution of disapproval on the Iran nuclear deal, with Congress facing a Sept. 17 deadline to pass legislation.

Under the review bill passed earlier this year, the Iran deal will go into effect if Congress failed to pass a bill weighing in.

– This story was updated at 7:03 p.m.

Tags Iran Maria Cantwell