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Lindsey Graham: there’s a ‘snowball’s chance in hell’ for congressional OK of Iran nuke deal
Adam Edelman — New York Daily News April 19, 2015
A prominent Senate Republican said Sunday there’s not a “snowball’s chance in hell” that President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal would get congressional approval.
“It is so weak in a time we need to be strong,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a possible 2016 contender, said on Fox News Sunday of the draft agreement between the U.S., Iran and other world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“I don’t think there’s a snowball’s chance in hell this framework will get approved by Congress after review,” he added. “I don’t think any Republican or Democrat is going to allow that to become final.”
New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, on the other hand, maintained that he was “withholding judgment” on the draft agreement until he receives more information.
Asked about his position Sunday, Schumer said: “I’m in the process of being briefed. It’s a very difficult situation. It’s a situation that requires a lot of care and I’m withholding judgment until I learn both sides very carefully.
“There are a whole lot of things we don’t know yet. When do sanctions go into effect? How rigid is the inspections regime? What will be done on the military bases? So I think it’s premature to give an answer one way or the other right now,” he said.
International negotiators have been working to reach a deal that would prevent Iran from being able to develop nuclear weapons. In exchange, Tehran would get relief from economic sanctions that are crippling its economy.
Congress has pushed for weeks for the ability to approve any final deal reached with Iran and last week, President Obama assured lawmakers that he would sign a bill that would give legislators a chance to block an international agreement to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.
But, in another sign any final deal faces an uphill battle, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said Sunday that inspectors would be barred from military sites under any nuclear agreement with world powers — setting up a possible standoff.
Gen. Hossein Salami, the Guard’s deputy leader, told Iranian state television that allowing foreign inspection of military sites would be tantamount to “selling out,” raising the stakes as talks between Iran and the six-nation group are to resume April 22 in Vienna.
“We will respond with hot lead (bullets) to those who speak of it,” Salami said. “Iran will not become a paradise for spies. We will not roll out the red carpet for the enemy.”
In addition, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told military commanders Sunday that U.S. negotiators had created the “myth” of nuclear weapons to portray Iran as a threat, hardening his rhetoric before nuclear negotiations resume this week.
“They created the myth of nuclear weapons so they could say the Islamic Republic is a source of threat,” Khamenei, the highest authority in Iran, said in a televised address to a hall of several hundred military commanders. “The source of threat is America itself, with its unrestrained, destabilizing interventions.”
Source: http://www.alternativenewswebsites.com/lindsey-graham-theres-a-snowballs-chance-in-hell-for-congressional-ok-of-iran-nuke-deal
