Sen. Bob Menendez announced Tuesday that he will oppose the Obama administration’s proposed nuclear deal with Iran, adding to the congressional opposition that will likely lead to its disapproval of the agreement next month.
The New Jersey senator, a top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, announced his decision in a speech at Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations, where he denounced the deal for only reducing Iran’s ability to produce a nuclear bomb, rather than dismantling it.
“At the end of the day, what we appear to have is a roll-back of sanctions and Iran only limiting its capability, but not dismantling it or rolling it back,” Menendez said. “What do we get? We get an alarm bell should they decide to violate their commitments, and a system for inspections to verify their compliance. That, in my view, is a far cry from dismantling.”
Menendez is among a growing list of Democrats who have announced their opposition to the deal. Earlier this month, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the number-three Senate Democrat, announced that he would vote against the nuclear deal.
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a previously undecided Republican, announced earlier this week he would also vote against the deal.
Congress has 60 days to review the deal and is expected to vote on a resolution disapproving of the deal in the Senate on Sept. 17. Senators will begin debating the agreement when they return from summer recess, on Sept. 8.
Both the House and Senate have signaled they will vote on a resolution of disapproval and with GOP majorities in both chambers, it is likely to pass.
Less certain are the prospects of overriding an all-but-guaranteed presidential veto. Obama needs to secure the support of just a third of lawmakers in both chambers to stop Congress from overriding his veto.
Menendez won’t be among them. He has frequently clashed with the Obama administration on foreign policy over the years, making is opposition to the Iran deal unsurprising. The son of Cuban immigrants, he staunchly opposed Obama’s move to re-open diplomatic relations with the Cuban dictatorship.
In April, a federal jury indicted Menendez on corruption charges following a Justice Department criminal probe, forcing him to step down from his post as top Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel. Some theorized that the indictment was a way to remove Menendez from his leadership role on the key committee, and Menendez has maintained his innocence.
The Iran deal, Menendez argued on Tuesday, should be scrapped in favor of a new round of negotiations that would aim for stronger assurances that Iran will not be able to produce a nuclear weapon beyond the next decade.
Congress, Menendez said, could provide “specific parameters,” for negotiators in the new round of talks, including an extension of the agreement to 20 years, a ban on Iran further developing centrifuge technology and the closing of the Fordow enrichment facility, whose purpose, Menendez said, “was to harden Iran’s nuclear program to a military attack.”
The United Nations Security Council in July voted unanimously to approve the deal. The accord would lift economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for the Islamic Republic reducing its nuclear capability. The agreement has received tepid support in Congress, in part because it includes undisclosed side deals that excluded U.S. negotiators.
The deal has secured support from some high-ranking Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Rep. Adam Schiff, of California, the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee.
“The deal realistically precludes Iran from developing an atomic bomb for fifteen or more years, and does so while reducing the chances of war,” Schiff said.
