Senate Opens Iran Deal Hearing Amid Harsh Rhetoric

Kerry Defends Pact Amid Condemnations from Republican Leaders

Senate hearings on the Iran nuclear deal have begun today, and as expected were filled with intense speeches of outright condemnation from Republican hawks who were opposed to the deal before its terms were even announced, and threats to see the deal killed outright at all costs.

Several lashed the deal as “fleecing” the US, and Sen. Marco Rubio (R – FL) talked up the idea that if he were elected he could just dishonor the treaty to kill it after the 2016 election. Secretary of State John Kerry said he hoped the next president would have more common sense than to do something like that.

The rhetoric from both sides of a aisle reflect something that has been the case since the deal was announced last week, that most everyone in the government came into the deal with a preconceived position, even those that hadn’t yet read the deal, and no one seems willing to even consider changing their minds.

With the Iran deal such a huge political hot potato, it seems likely that most top officials are going to want to keep making hay about it, and that the next two months of review, leading up to Congressional votes that almost certainly won’t block the pact, are going to be full of predictions of doom from hawkish speechmakers.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.