DOHA, Qatar -- Persian Gulf monarchies issued a cautious endorsement Monday of the accord that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated last month to constrain Iran's nuclear program.
In Washington, House Republicans said they have the votes to disapprove of the nuclear deal as Democrats stepped up their support of the agreement.
In a news conference with Kerry, Qatari Foreign Minister Khalid al-Attiyah said the secretary of state had repeated his assurance that the U.S. would stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon if Tehran failed to adhere to the accord.
"This was the best option among other options," said Attiyah, who hosted a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council that Kerry attended.
"We are confident that what they undertook makes this region safer and more stable," he added.
Kerry and his counterparts from the Persian Gulf states also agreed on ways to expedite the military support and training efforts that President Barack Obama promised at a May meeting at Camp David with senior gulf state officials.
On the basis of Kerry's assurances, Attiyah said that the members of the Gulf Cooperation Council welcomed the U.S. offers of support.
"He let us know that there is going to be live oversight over Iran not to gain or to get any nuclear weapons," Attiyah said. "This is reassuring to the region."
The nuclear accord with Iran was negotiated by the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.
None of Iran's neighbors in the Middle East had a seat at the negotiating table. Israel is worried that the accord would delay but not eliminate Iran's ability to enrich uranium and build nuclear weapons.
Saudi Arabia and Arab states in the region also fear that Iran would be able to use the billions of dollars it is expected to receive, in sanctions relief and revenue from its future oil exports, to aggressively pursue its regional ambitions.
But instead of assailing the agreement, the Arab states have concentrated on securing U.S. support for their efforts to push back against Iran if its government continues its support for militant groups in the region.
Kerry said the U.S. will step up efforts to assist the Persian Gulf states, such as training special forces and increasing intelligence sharing, including of Iranian "agents of proxies who come in to try to stir up the population."
Kerry also said the U.S. will continue efforts to help the gulf states improve their missile defenses, increase joint military exercises and help the navies of those countries improve their ability to intercept Iranian ships smuggling weapons and people.
For Kerry, the support of gulf Arabs was a diplomatic victory for the State Department and a political one for the White House in its struggle to secure congressional support for the accord, which is undergoing a 60-day review.
Because Republicans hold 246 seats in the House, the party has a chance to come up with 218 votes to support a resolution of disapproval, which has been introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill.
"Time is not the friend of this deal," Roskam said in a statement. "The more time members spend evaluating this agreement, the more they realize it's an historic mistake."
It's unclear, however, whether there would be enough votes in the House to override Obama's expected veto of the legislation. The president is counting on Democrats to sustain his veto, and House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi has said they will.
Overriding the veto would require the support of two-thirds of the lawmakers in each chamber. Obama would need 34 members of the Senate or 146 members of the House to stand with him.
On Monday, California Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Anna Eshoo joined an expanding number of representatives who have announced their support for the international accord.
Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said the deal "realistically precludes Iran from developing an atomic bomb" for at least 15 years.
Eshoo said her decision was not based on trusting Iran.
"To the contrary," she said, "the regime has a long list of offenses that I deeply object to, but there must be a mechanism in place to keep them from becoming a nuclear power."
Crucial to the administration is New York Sen. Charles Schumer, a Jewish Democrat. Schumer, who hasn't disclosed his stance on the deal, has faced intense lobbying from both sides.
"This is such an important decision that I will not let pressure, politics or party influence [me]," Schumer said Monday at a news conference in New York.
Schumer said he has received about 20 briefings, including two classified sessions.
"This is one of the most important decisions that I'll make, that any senator or congressman will make, and so I'm studying it really seriously," he said.
Another New York Democrat, Rep. Kathleen Rice, said Monday that she opposes the deal.
Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Gordon of The New York Times and by Deb Riechmann and David Caruso of The Associated Press.
A Section on 08/04/2015