DUBAI/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Iran’s pragmatist government tried yesterday to sell its nuclear agreement with world powers to hardliners at home, just as a U.S. congressional leader promised to do “everything possible” to sink the deal.
With both Tehran and Washington facing stiff opposition to the accord, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter traveled to Saudi Arabia in the hope of reassuring leaders there who fear their arch-rival Iran will make major mischief in the region.
Last week’s agreement was a big success for both U.S. President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. But both have to promote it to influential hardliners in countries that have been enemies for decades. Under the deal between the United States, the European Union and five major powers, Iran accepted curbs on its nuclear programme in return for an easing of sanctions that have crippled its economy.
In Washington, the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, was deeply sceptical. Boehner said that “because a bad deal threatens the security of the American people, we’re going to do everything possible to stop it.”
Obama, a Democrat, and other top officials began a full-bore effort to persuade sceptical lawmakers not to fight the deal, but meetings with all 435 members of the House of Representatives seemed to make little headway.
As he walked into a closed-door meeting with members of the Republican-controlled House, Secretary of State John Kerry said he was looking forward to answering House members’ questions.
“This is a day we’ve been looking forward to because we get to really talk substance, we get to get out of the politics and into the facts,” Kerry told reporters.
After the meeting, a few Republican House members said Kerry had seemed arrogant.
“There were a number of comments that he came across as condescending,” said Republican U.S. Representative Mark Meadows. He described the agreement as “troubling”.
Republican U.S. Representative Mac Thornberry, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said he would wait until he had more information before reaching a conclusion.
“There’s a lot more work for Congress to do,” Thornberry told reporters. “We’ll be holding hearings and other events to examine the military implications, including whether other countries will be encouraged to develop their own nuclear capability in order to keep up with what Iran is allowed to do under this agreement. And whether there is an increased threat to U.S. servicemembers.”
Democratic U.S. Representative Jim Himes said he had not made up his mind, but “Secretary Kerry gave a very, very strong defense of the deal.”
He also said, however, that “from my standpoint the burden of proof, given what I’ve read so far, is on the opponents to explain why this is really a bad deal relative to where we were and why this is a bad deal relative to where we will be if the United States unilaterally walks away from it.”
House and Senate debates and votes to approve or reject the nuclear agreement are expected in September.
DEAL’S AFTERGLOW FADES
A warm glow following the Vienna agreement is fading.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, told supporters on Saturday that U.S. policies in the region were “180 degrees” opposed to Tehran’s, in a speech punctuated by chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.
