The ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday lavished praised upon the results of the Iran nuclear deal, despite being unsure if he will support it.
Ben Cardin (D-Md.), who is being intensely lobbied by both opponents and supporters of the agreement, lauded the efforts of US envoys during the first major oversight hearing examining the final deal.
“Our negotiators got an awful lot,” he said in his opening statement, also remarking that critics made claims about the draft agreement that were proven wrong on July 14, when the accord was finalized and released.
“We don’t trust Iran, but we gotta leave emotion out of this,” Cardin added.
Having not yet made up his mind, Cardin is being pressed by both the administration and its detractors, with the latter including Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister recently reached Cardin by phone with his stated concerns, according to USA Today.
“I think the major concern is, what is their ultimate goal?” Cardin told the paper. “Are they trying to wait us out? Are they trying to figure out a way they can cheat?”
On Thursday, he asked lead negotiators who appeared before the committee—Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew—about some of these worries—namely about non-nuclear sanctions, and inspections. Lew said that Congress will still have the authority to implement penalties for human rights violations and support for terrorism and that the matter came up during negotiations. Moniz insisted that American officials will be able to tell if the Iranians cheat.
Kerry, meanwhile, claimed that if Congress rejects the deal, Iran’s nuclear program will be in a better position than it was when negotiations started—when Tehran had enough fissile material to build ten-to-twelve bombs.
“If this deal is rejected, we return to this,” he said.
The Secretary of State also noted that Iran’s relative isolation will likely end even if the deal is rejected, with the other permanent members of the UN Security Council losing interest in maintaining sanctions.
