Reid: Iran deal will stand

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) declared on Tuesday that Democrats will block a Republican-led effort to overturn President Obama’s historic nuclear deal with Iran.

“America will uphold its commitment and we will seize this opportunity to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” he said in a speech at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

{mosads}So far, only four Democratic senators have come out against the deal negotiated by Iran, the U.S. and several other countries, leaving Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) two votes short of the 60 he needs to pass a disapproval resolution.

Reid warned that scrapping the agreement would allow Iran to continue to amass materials to build a nuclear weapon.

“We can take the strongest step ever toward blocking Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, or we can block this agreement and all but ensure Iran will have the fissile material it would need to make a bomb in a matter of months,” he said.

Four Democrats remain undecided: Sens. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Maria Cantwell (Wash.) and Ron Wyden (Ore.). McConnell would need two of them to back the disapproval resolution to send it to the White House.

Even then, it has virtually no chance of becoming law because Obama has promised to veto it and Democrats have enough votes to sustain that action.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) last week assured Obama that the agreement would stand when she became the 34th senator to voice her support, denying Republicans the 67 votes needed to override a veto. 

Four Democrats and every Republican in the upper chamber are expected to vote for the disapproval resolution, which the Senate will begin debating on Tuesday afternoon.

Three Democratic opponents, Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), Bob Menendez (N.J.) and Ben Cardin (Md.), have vocal pro-Israel constituencies in their home states. Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) announced his disapproval on Tuesday.

Cardin is the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Menendez is the former chairman of the panel, but their positions have had little influence on Democratic colleagues.

“It is clear to me and to the overwhelming majority of my caucus that this agreement gives us the best chance to avoid one of the worst threats in today’s world — a nuclear-armed Iran,” Reid said.

He said he had reached his decision after receiving briefings from Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and State’s Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman.

He also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States.

Reid argued the agreement would take away Iran’s stockpile of enriched nuclear material and block it from manufacturing more of it by imposing “intrusive inspections.”

He said it forbids Iran from ever pursuing or building a nuclear weapon by employing video cameras, inspectors, seals “and all manner of technology to make sure Iran complies.”

He noted that Iran must take action to comply with the accord to receive sanctions relief and that penalties would be re-implemented in case of a breach.

“We have done everything possible to make sure that if Iran cheats, we’ll know, we’ll know quickly and we’ll act immediately and with the international community behind us,” he said.

–This report was updated at 10:48 a.m.