‘Campaign financing’ could finally kill Iran agreement

As efforts are underway by the White House to rally support for a nuclear agreement between Iran and the global powers, “campaign financing” by pro-Israelis could finally end up killing the accord at the Congress, says a former American intelligence linguist.

Scott Rickard told Press TV in a Tuesday phone interview that there is “tremendous lobbying going on” by American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to pressure American senators to kill the accord, reached in Vienna in mid-July.

“It’s become their number 1 priority,“ Rickard said, referring to attempts by, among others, Israeli ambassador to the US Ron Dermer, who has visited “pretty much every single Democratic senator.”

Rickard was commenting on reports that US President Barack Obama has been making private calls to Democratic senators over the matter while on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard.

Obama needs the Democratic senators’ support so that his veto power is not overridden after a possible rejection of the accord by the House of Representatives.

Rickard speculated that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – agreed upon by the US, Russia, Britain, China, France, and Germany –“will probably be rejected in the Congress. And then, Obama will veto that rejection and the Senate will most likely override the veto and try to end the deal.”

The reason, Rickard argued, is that US politicians are all “very dependent upon the campaign financing” by pro-Israelis.

A senior’s take

Meanwhile on Tuesday, senior American politician Zbigniew Brzezinski (seen above) warned of “troubling” consequences the disapproval could bring about.

“A decision not to approve it will have consequences. These are troubling because we can't define them precisely,” the former director of the US National Security Agency told MSNBC.

"I think any intelligent person knows in their gut, if we don't' approve it, the consequence might be devastating."

How about Robert Menendez?

Brzezinski’s remarks came at a time that another Democratic senator, apart from Chuck Schumer, publicly expressed an anti-JCPOA stance.

"I will vote to disapprove the agreement and, if called upon, would vote to override a veto" Menendez said in a speech.

Two Democratic senators, Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, voiced their support for the agreement shortly afterwards, putting the number of pro-JCPOA senators from the Democratic Party at 44.

The GOP would need a whole lot more Democrats to be able to kill the accord.

“Indeed, the most pressing question at this point is whether they can even get the 60 votes in opposition that are needed to break a filibuster and get a disapproval resolution to Obama’s desk,” read an article by Burgess Everett, published on Politico  earlier in the day.

Before clinching the agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, “As a foreign government, I only deal with the US government. I do not deal with Congress. The responsibility of bringing that into line falls on the shoulders of the president of the United States. That’s the person with whom we are making an agreement.”

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