150 House Democrats want Obama to reach Iran deal

Tehran, May 8, IRNA – An overwhelming majority of Democrats in the House of Representatives have lined up behind President Barack Obama over the nuclear negotiations with Iran. One hundred and fifty members, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, sent a letter to Obama on Thursday, urging him to “exhaust every avenue” in his efforts to reach a final nuclear agreement with Tehran. Thursday’s release of a letter signed by 150 House Democrats makes it significantly more likely that a nuclear deal negotiated between the P5+1 and Iran will survive a congressional challenge, lobelog.com reported. The letter is also seen as a warning message to the GOP that Democrats would be able to sustain a presidential veto in case the Republicans vote to disapprove a nuclear deal. The letter, an initiative of Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), and David Price (D-NC), expresses strong support for Obama’s efforts to conclude an agreement. It has been quietly circulating on Capitol Hill for several weeks and was made public only when 150 lawmakers signed it—several more than needed to sustain an Obama veto of legislation disapproving a deal with Iran. Overriding a presidential veto requires that at least two-thirds of the membership of each house of Congress vote to do so. The Washington Post‘s Greg Sargent explained, “[T]he goal of the letter isn’t just to signal that a veto would likely be sustained. It’s also meant to signal that there is more Congressional support than expected for the negotiations in order to help along the talks.” The letter is also likely to give Iranian negotiators more confidence that a final deal signed by the US will not be overturned by Congress. The letter is likely to get much less media attention than the Senate’s approval on Thursday of the Corker-Cardin bill without any substantial amendment. If also passed by the House and signed into law by Obama, the legislation will permit Congress to review and potentially block a final deal within 30 days of its submission by the administration. The final vote was 98-1. Meanwhile, the German ambassador to Washington warned that his country and other nations are ready to move beyond sanctions imposed on Iran over its peaceful nuclear program, regardless of any decision that the US Congress may be willing to make. Peter Wittig made the statement on Thursday in reaction to the US Senate’s approval of the bill that potentially makes removal of sanctions conditional on congressional consent. Addressing the Columbus Metropolitan Club in central Ohio, the German ambassador said, “The alternatives to a negotiated deal are not very attractive.” Wittig said while Congress would probably be willing to impose new sanctions on Iran, other countries would not follow, adding that such state of affairs would cause “this universal sanctions regime” against Iran to “crumble”. He also dismissed as not viable Washington’s talks of a military option against Iran, saying it will not lead to a lasting solution. The German ambassador stated that his government wants to give diplomacy a chance, adding that any agreement that may be signed between Iran and the P5+1 group – the US, Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany – will be reviewed and judged on its merits. At the beginning of 2012, the US and EU imposed sanctions on Iran’s economic sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from cooperating with the Islamic Republic. The sanctions were imposed over allegations about possible diversion in Iran's nuclear program toward military objectives. Iran categorically rejected the allegation. Iran and the P5+1 reached a mutual understanding on April 2 in the Swiss city of Lausanne as a prelude to a comprehensive deal before a self-designated deadline of July 1.