N.Y. Sen. Chuck Schumer will oppose Iran nuclear deal
A leading Democrat in the U.S. Senate announced Thursday night that he will vote against the Iran nuclear agreement.
In a lengthy post on Medium, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, laid out the reasons he decided not to support the deal negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry and strongly advocated for by President Obama.
Schumer said he has spent the last three weeks evaluating the proposal, which he called a "difficult and deliberate endeavor." He reached his conclusion "after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching."
Schumer's defection deals a significant blow to the president. The White House has secured the support of more than a dozen Senate Democrats ahead of a vote next month, but Schumer -- widely expected to succeed Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid -- would have been a significant ally.
Another Democrat defected Thursday when House Foreign affairs committee ranking member Eliot Engel, D-NY, came out against the deal.
"The answers I've received simply don't convince me that this deal will keep a nuclear weapon out of Iran's hands, and may in fact strengthen Iran's position as a destabilizing and destructive influence across the Middle East," Engel said.
Kerry said Friday he "profoundly disagrees" with the reasoning used by Schumer and Engel.
Speaking in Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, Kerry said the facts don't bear out the arguments made by the Senate's No. 3 Democrat, Schumer, and Engel. He said he respects the right of lawmakers to make their own decisions about the merits of the deal, but said rejection doesn't offer any alternative but a drumbeat to conflict.
Schumer said he examined three aspects of the agreement: restrictions on Iran's nuclear program during the next ten years, limits after that period and what he called "non-nuclear components and consequences of a deal."
"In each case I have asked: are we better off with the agreement or without it?" Schumer wrote.
Among his concerns, Schumer pointed to a possible 24-day wait before inspectors are allowed access to Iran's nuclear sites.
"While inspectors would likely be able to detect radioactive isotopes at a site after 24 days, that delay would enable Iran to escape detection of any illicit building and improving of possible military dimensions (PMD) -- the tools that go into building a bomb but don't emit radioactivity," Schumer said.
In addition, Schumer said he was troubled that the U.S. cannot demand inspections alone, but must secure the agreement of other international partners to the deal.
Another problem Schumer raised is the lifting of economic sanctions.
"After fifteen years of relief from sanctions, Iran would be stronger financially and better able to advance a robust nuclear program," Schumer claimed. "Even more importantly, the agreement would allow Iran, after ten to fifteen years, to be a nuclear threshold state with the blessing of the world community. Iran would have a green light to be as close, if not closer to possessing a nuclear weapon than it is today. And the ability to thwart Iran if it is intent on becoming a nuclear power would have less moral and economic force."
Schumer said the non-nuclear element of the deal "gives me the most pause," and that he fears the agreement will allow Iran to pursue "even more harmful military and terrorist actions.
"The very real risk that Iran will not moderate and will, instead, use the agreement to pursue its nefarious goals is too great," Schumer wrote.
"Therefore, I will vote to disapprove the agreement, not because I believe war is a viable or desirable option, nor to challenge the path of diplomacy. It is because I believe Iran will not change, and under this agreement it will be able to achieve its dual goals of eliminating sanctions while ultimately retaining its nuclear and non-nuclear power. Better to keep U.S. sanctions in place, strengthen them, enforce secondary sanctions on other nations, and pursue the hard-trodden path of diplomacy once more, difficult as it may be."
On Wednesday, Mr. Obama delivered a speech at American University arguing that the Iran accord was the best -- and, he argued -- the only option for the U.S., short of war.
"I've had to make a lot of tough calls as president, but whether or not this deal is good for American security is not one of those calls. It's not even close," Mr. Obama said.