Nuclear Agreement with Iran Assured: Time to Unite for Success

As of September 2nd, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a done deal.

Senator Barbara Mikulski (Md.) became the 34th U.S. Senator to declare that she will vote in favor for JCPOA. This means that even as the U.S. Senate votes to oppose the deal, there are enough votes to sustain a veto from President Obama.

“No deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with the Iranian regime,” Mikulski said in a statement. “I have concluded that this [deal] is the best option available to block Iran from having a nuclear bomb.” Mikulski also said she is confident the deal blocks the pathways for Tehran to obtain a bomb. In a lengthy statement, she also echoed the Obama administration’s position that the only alternative to the deal is further sanctions or military action.

Through negotiations between the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, the European Union, and Iran, that the deal was reached on July 14th. Much animosity, divisiveness, and very vulgar words of hate have dominated the usual conversation between these countries. However, diplomacy has won out in the conversation. This is an important win for the approach President Obama has taken, building a broad international coalition behind sanctions and then using tough diplomacy to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

In a statement J Street, one of the two powerful pro-Israel political action committees, said, “We knew when we started – and saw in the polling over the last two months – that a solid majority of American Jews agreed with us and were broadly in favor of this deal. We also were so pleased to be able to bring credible figures from the Israeli military and national security establishment to the United States to argue in favor of the deal.Our opponents played on fears and emotions, and we share their concerns about the regime in Iran, its role in the region and its track record at home. But, in the end, we provided reasonable answers to every question they raised, and they offered no viable alternative to achieve our shared goal of preventing this bad regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”

There is now a good chance that those supporting the JCPOA can get the support of enough Senators to stop a resolution of opposition from passing in the U.S. Senate and, therefore, make a veto unnecessary. Most importantly, it is now essential that those in favor and those opposed to JCPOA sit down to discuss Congressional action that shores up the deal and ensures its goals are achieved as well as preventing Iran from working contrary to the intent of the deal.

The New York delegation needs to unite, as well as the rhetoric directed against Congressman Nadler and others must cease. All efforts must now be made to fight any effort by opponents to achieve their goal of killing the deal through the back door when they could not muster the votes to do so directly. I specifically urge Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressmen Jerry Nadler and Eliot Engel (who have been on opposite sides regarding JCPOA) to bring both sides together in the very near future.

This action has to be taken by September 24th.

Below is a list of The New York City Congressional delegation and the position of each on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA):