President Barack Obama’s fellow Democrats are expressing skepticism about the Iranian nuclear deal the U.S. and its partners reached with Tehran, the Associated Press Reported.
Shortly after announcement of the agreement Tuesday, members of Obama’s party cautiously congratulated his effort but said they would review the deal closely in coming weeks.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said he would examine the deal to ensure it “adequately protects the interests” of the United States and its allies.
After receiving a copy of the agreement, lawmakers will have 60 days to review it, vote yea or nay — or take no action.
Obama says he’ll veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of the deal.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen Tom Cotton on Tuesday called the Iran nuclear deal dangerous and said he believes Congress will act to stop it.
Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program in a live interview moments after the president’s speech, Cotton called it a “terrible, dangerous mistake that’s going to pave the path for Iran to get a nuclear weapon.”
Cotton, a staunch critic of the negotiations, said the deal would provide billions in sanctions relief and lift the arms embargo “at a time when they are destabilizing the entire Middle East.”
“The American people are going to repudiate this deal, and I believe Congress will kill the deal,” he said.
“If you look at the text of the deal, Iran will have weeks to delay,” he said. “They’ll be able to decide which sites we inspect. But more fundamentally, if they wanted to end their nuclear program and rejoin the civilized world, they could simply grant us access. They don’t. They are an outlaw, terrorist-sponsoring, anti-American regime. They have the blood of hundreds of American soldiers on their hands who they killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
