Iran nuke deal set to face ‘hostile’ US Congress

London, July 15: A day after world powers and Iran concluded the long-drawn talks with a historic nuclear deal, the battle is now set to move to Washington as the Obama administration initiates a three-month campaign to prevent the hard-won deal from being trashed by the Congress, which is dominated by Republicans.
The deal will require Iran to dismantle much of its nuclear facility and in return, the U.S., UN and European Union (EU) will bring down the wall of sanctions built around the country over the last nine years, reported The Guardian.Republicans and some Democrats in Congress, who have long been opposed to the idea of allowing any nuclear programme to flourish on Iranian soil whatsoever, are determined to find ways to block the deal that they argue seeks to manage rather than prevent an Iranian nuclear programme and endangers Israel.The battle to win over wavering Democratic votes in the Senate will pit some American allies against others, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has vowed to intervene assertively in the debate on Capitol Hill to sabotage the newly-struck deal.On the other side, Britain, France and Germany-countries that participated in the dialogue process-will be called on to support the Obama administration’s argument.Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama has vowed to veto any legislation that prevented successful implementation of the deal, saying he was ‘confident’ that the deal could meet the national security interest of the country.