Biden presses Democrats to back Iran nuclear deal

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Joe Biden met House Democrats in hopes of securing their support for the nuclear accord with Iran, as the White House confronts a tougher-than-expected fight to ensure that the deal survives congressional review.

The private breakfast Thursday with a small group of lawmakers at the Naval Observatory was part of White House administration's final pitch on the deal before Congress leaves for its August recess.

President Barack Obama's administration is bracing for an all-out effort in lawmakers' home districts by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading pro-Israel lobbying group, to press for rejection of the agreement. The lobby also is sponsoring a multimillion-dollar ad campaign and trips to Israel next month for some members of Congress.

Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., is among the lawmakers making the trip, and his office said the itinerary includes a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the deal's most ardent critics.

Lawmakers have until September to review the accord struck July 14 by the United States and five other world powers with Iran. If they pass a resolution of disapproval, Obama has vowed veto it.

Administration officials are counting on having enough Democrats backing the president to sustain a veto, which would stand unless two-thirds of Congress voted to override it.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi reiterated Thursday that she's confident any presidential veto of a disapproval measure of the deal will be sustained.

"Where does my confidence spring from?" Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters at the Capitol. "First of all, from the quality of the agreement. Second of all, to the seriousness and thoughtfulness with which my colleagues have approached this," she said. "And more and more of them have confirmed to me that they will be there to sustain the veto."

Joining those colleagues who support the bill Thursday were four Democrats, including one who represents a U.S. hostage in Iran.

"It's very clear to me that the agreement is the best path forward," two-term Rep. Dan Kildee of Michigan, who counts hostage and Marine Corps veteran Amir Hekmati as a constituent, said in an interview. "This agreement allows us to prevent [Iran] from gaining a nuclear weapon, and if they cheat, we will know it. If we don't have the agreement, we don't have that certainty."

Hekmati, an American, has been held in Iran since 2011. Kildee said he has told Obama and Hekmati's relatives about his decision to back the international agreement, which calls on Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee and a Senate candidate, said he would support the agreement, calling it "the best path to achieve our goal of ensuring that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon."

Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Rep. David Price, D-N.C., also announced their support for the agreement.

"We have a choice between this deal or no deal" to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, Udall said from the Senate floor. "I do not believe we will get another chance."

Price said he believes the accord will "make the world a safer place."

Rejecting the deal "would threaten not just our credibility on the international stage, but also our national security and that of our allies," Price said in a statement. "That is not a risk I am willing to take."

Their statements come after multiple White House meetings this week between Obama and House Democrats. Obama and his allies say there is no alternative to the deal other than to let Iran proceed unsupervised.

Obama, in a conference call Thursday with supporters of his Organizing for Action nonprofit, said opponents were spending $20 million in television ads attacking the deal. He said every argument that's been made against the deal is either "inaccurate" or assumes the U.S. could have gotten a better deal in which Iran agreed to forgo even peaceful nuclear power.

"In the world of our dreams, that would be preferable," Obama said. "In the real world, this is a deal that gets the job done."

In the global effort to rally behind nuclear deal, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israel's Netanyahu in a phone call that the agreement "provided reliable guarantees" that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful, according to the Kremlin.

Putin said the agreement would help secure nuclear nonproliferation and "have a positive impact on security and stability in the Middle East."

Russia was among the six world powers that negotiated the deal with Iran. Netanyahu has called the deal a "historic mistake."

Meanwhile, Iranian state TV broadcast remarks Thursday made over the weekend by Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said Iran will not allow U.S. or Canadian inspectors working for the United Nations nuclear watchdog to visit its nuclear facilities.

Araghchi said Iran will allow only inspectors from countries that have diplomatic relations with it. The previously undisclosed remarks were made during a Sunday meeting with parliamentarians.

Information for this article was contributed by Justin Sink, Billy House, Toluse Olorunnipa, David Lerman and John Walcott of Bloomberg News and by Laurie Kellman, Deb Riechmann, Josh Lederman and staff members of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/31/2015

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