U.S. Rep. Bill Keating on Thursday endorsed the nuclear agreement between the United States and its allies and Iran.
"Rejection of the Iran nuclear agreement at this time, given the volatile regional realities, creates a substantial risk of a worst-case scenario for the United States, Israel, and the region," Keating said in a press release.
"For decades, Iran has moved to become a nuclear power. The prospect of one of the world’s most malign exporters of terrorism obtaining nuclear weapons has resulted in bipartisan U.S. administrations adopting a policy of stopping this even by military intervention. This remains current U.S. policy.
"To avoid this possibility, the U.S. and other major countries imposed on Iran one of the most crippling sets of international economic sanctions ever constituted against a country. In spite of the devastating effects this had on their economy and citizens, Iran continued until it became the nuclear threshold state it is today – currently capable of nuclear weaponry in a mere two month timeframe. It was this threshold status that enabled them with leverage in the agreement negotiations.
"With no agreement, the crippling economic sanctions that brought Iran to the table in the first place face overwhelming risk of collapse. Russia, oil starved countries like China and India, and even our usual European allies will move forward with sanctions relief. It has been acknowledged that the extension of U.S.-imposed sanctions alone would not bring all these countries back to the negotiating table. This would leave us with an Iran free to continue its pursuit of a nuclear weapons program by years end.
"Accepting the agreement includes the risk of Iran cheating to pursue nuclear weapons capabilities – a very real risk given their history. However, numerous classified briefings by our military and scientific communities reveal an intelligence system capable of detecting this. There is also a risk to Iran if it cheats. Under the agreement, international sanctions would "snap back" to what they are now and neither Russia nor China – together or alone – could block this.
"But, if we reject this deal in an effort to renegotiate a better one, we would likely face a country now with nuclear weapons and reduced sanctions. How would the U.S. possibly be in a position to strike a better deal? This is the substantial risk of the worse-case scenario and would leave us with only military alternatives. Since there is nothing in the agreement that limits our military options, all these alternatives would still be at our disposal if we accepted the agreement."
Senate Democrats voted to uphold the agreement on Thursday, overcoming ferocious Republican opposition and delivering President Barack Obama a legacy-making victory on his top foreign policy priority.
A disapproval resolution for the agreement fell two votes short of the 60 needed to move forward as Democratic and independent senators banded together against it. Although House Republicans continued to pursue eleventh-hour strategies to derail the international accord, the outcome in the Senate guaranteed that the disapproval legislation would not reach Obama's desk.
As a result the nuclear deal will move forward unchecked by Congress, an improbable win by Obama in the face of unanimous opposition from Republicans who control Capitol Hill, GOP candidates seeking to replace him in the Oval Office and the state of Israel and its allied lobbyists in the U.S.
Beginning next week, Obama will be free to start scaling back U.S. sanctions to implement the agreement negotiated by Iran, the U.S. and five other world powers. The accord aims to constrain Iran's nuclear ambitions in exchange for hundreds of billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions.