Carol E. Lee And Kristina Peterson-Obama to Press His Case on Iran Nuclear Deal
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama plans to make his sharpest sales pitch yet in favor of the Iran nuclear deal that the U.S. and other world powers reached three weeks ago, with a lengthy speech on Wednesday outlining his argument in detail for Americans.
The president will speak at American University in Washington as the battle heats up between the White House and opponents of the deal, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to win over lawmakers on Capitol Hill who are expected to vote on the agreement next month.
The deal negotiated between Iran and a six-nation negotiating bloc strictly limits Tehran’s nuclear activity for at least a decade in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
A core component of Mr. Obama’s argument on Wednesday will be to frame lawmakers’ decision on the Iran deal as the most consequential congressional vote since the 2002 Iraq war authorization.
“He will point out that the same people who supported war in Iraq are opposing diplomacy with Iran, and that it would be an historic mistake to squander this opportunity—removing constraints on the Iranian program, unraveling the sanctions regime, and damaging American credibility,” a White House official said.
Mr. Obama met Tuesday at the White House with representatives of Jewish-American organizations to press his case for backing the deal. Mr. Netanyahu addressed the same representatives from Jewish Federations of North America on Tuesday, urging them to oppose it.
Also on Tuesday, Republican leaders in the House and Senate signaled they would move forward in September with resolutions to reject the Iran deal. At the same time, a series of new pronouncements from Democrats cut both in favor of the agreement and against it.
Rep. Ted Deutch (D., Fla.), who serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he doesn’t support the deal because of the roughly $100 billion Iran would receive in sanctions relief under its terms.
“Too many issues I have long raised as essential to any nuclear deal with Iran are not adequately addressed in this agreement,” Mr. Deutch said in a statement.But a handful of Senate Democrats, including Bill Nelson, also of Florida, said they would support the measure.
Under legislation Congress passed in May, lawmakers can choose to vote on a resolution of approval or disapproval—or not vote at all. Assuming both the House and Senate pass resolutions of disapproval, and the White House vetoes it, the president would need to win over just over one-third of lawmakers in either chamber to avoid having Congress sink the deal.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Mr. Obama is confident enough Democrats support the deal in the House to sustain a presidential veto, and the president is expected to be able to sustain a veto in the Senate.
Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, expected to be the next Democratic leader in the Senate, has remained undecided on the Iran deal going into Congress’s August recess. “I’m not going to let pressure or politics or party influence my decision, and then when I think my questions have been answered I’ll let people know how I feel and why,” Mr. Schumer said.
The White House is essentially resigned to the president’s having to use his veto power to implement his signature foreign policy initiative.
Indeed House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said Tuesday the chamber would vote in September on a resolution from House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R., Calif.) to reject the deal. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) said the Senate would “in all likelihood” also vote on a resolution of disapproval on the deal.
Mr. Netanyahu, in a webcast speech, condemned the agreement on Tuesday as fatally flawed. He also accused the White House—as the White House has accused him—of distorting the facts of the accord. In particular Mr. Netanyahu took issue with the White House’s assertion that opponents of the deal are advocating war, which Mr. Obama has cast as the only alternative to his diplomatic outreach to Iran.
“This is a very dangerous deal, and it threatens all of us,” Mr. Netanyahu said, adding: “The claim that we oppose this deal because we want war is not just false, it’s outrageous.”
Mr. Netanyahu brushed aside public support that Gulf Arab states have offered for the deal, surmising that they will now pursue their own nuclear programs.
“The countries in the region threatened by Iran have already made clear that they will work to develop atomic bombs of their own,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “So the deal that was supposed to end nuclear proliferation will actually trigger nuclear proliferation.”
—Felicia Schwartz contributed to this article.
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