Congressional opponents of the US-Iran nuclear deal scrambled on Monday to attack the historic accord as inadequate and destined to fail, raising questions about the Obama administration’s ability to deliver on its potential diplomatic breakthrough.
Previewing a fight on Capitol Hill that will kick off in earnest when Congress returns next week, the administration faces a glut of critics, both Democrats and Republicans, who argue that President Obama is unravelling a hard-crafted regime of sanctions out of blind commitment for any deal, no matter how allegedly favorable to the Iranians.
Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican and leading Iran hawk, blasted the deal as “so far away from what the end game should look like”. He told CNN that the goal of any deal “should be to stop enrichment".
Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who chairs the Senate foreign relations committee, said in a statement: “This agreement did not proportionately reduce Iran’s nuclear program." » | Spencer Ackerman in Washington | Monday, November 25, 2013
