Sens. Cory Booker and Mark Warner came out in support for the Iran deal Thursday.
The two Democrats, from New Jersey and Virginia, respectively, became the 35th and 36th ‘yes’ votes. This means the White House may be just a few votes shy of the 41 votes it needs to filibuster a resolution disapproving of the historic deal, which would essentially amount to U.S. approval of the deal.
However, some Democrats have indicated the Senate should take the vote on the Iran deal, which means it may be easier to stop a filibuster.
“I believe that supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated between Iran and the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China is the best option for advancing the goal of keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Warner said in a statement. “While I believe there are several areas of concern with the agreement, the choice I ultimately had to make was between accepting an imperfect deal, or facing the serious ramifications if Congress rejected a deal that has the support of the rest of the world.”
Booker announced his support of the deal in a lengthy statement prior to Warner, voicing concern about the deal’s effect on Israel, before concluding that the deal is the best option in deterring Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
“We have now passed a point of no return that we should have never reached, leaving our nation to choose between two imperfect, dangerous and uncertain options,” he said in his statement posted on medium.com. “Left with these two choices, I nonetheless believe it is better to support a deeply flawed deal, for the alternative is worse.”
Lawmakers return to Washington, D.C. after Labor Day to vote on the deal, which was passed by Iran, the U.S. and five other world powers in July. The deal gives Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbing its nuclear ambitions, but has been met with resistance from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as American Israeli groups and Israeli leaders.
