Lawmakers to Grill Senior US Officials on Iran Nuclear Deal
Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will appear Thursday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The senior officials, who were key architects of the nuclear agreement, on Wednesday held private meetings with lawmakers in Washington.
Speaking before a briefing, Kerry said he believes the nuclear accord will make the world safer.
“We are convinced that the agreement that we have arrived at with world powers is an agreement that will prevent Iran from the potential of securing a nuclear weapon,” said Kerry.
Congress has until mid-September to approve or reject the deal, which will lift sanctions in exchange for Iran scaling back its nuclear program.
House Speaker John Boehner vowed Republicans, who control both houses of Congress, will spare no effort to kill the agreement.
“Because a bad deal threatens the security of the American people, we’re going to do everything possible to stop it,” Boehner said Wednesday.
If the deal is rejected, President Barack Obama has promised to veto that decision.
To override the veto, it would take a two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress, meaning many members of Obama’s Democratic Party would have to join Republicans in rejecting the deal.
Many Democratic lawmakers were non-committal as they emerged from Wednesday’s closed-door meetings, saying they need to study the deal more before making a decision.
“I think the deal is a dramatic improvement over the status quo from day one through probably year 10 to 15. Thereafter my questions are about our ability to detect cheating after some of the provisions start to expire,” said Democratic Senator Tim Kaine.
Critics of the deal say the verification procedures are not tough enough to ensure Iran is living up to its agreement not to develop a nuclear weapon. They also express concern the sanctions relief will free up billions for Iran to expand funding for militant groups across the Middle East.