Number of Senators in favor for the Iran Nuclear Deal increases to 31; Lauren Bush 9th Period

             On August 30th, 2015, Oregon’s Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley announced his support during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington for the Iran Nuclear Deal. This makes him the 31st senator wanting to implement this agreement. Only 34 votes are required confirm a presidential veto of a disapproving congressional decision. Merkley states that the deal has “significant shortcomings” but is the best way to prevent Iran from creating nuclear weapons.

The Iran Nuclear Deal states that, in exchange for sanctions relief, Iran has agreed to limit its ability to produce a nuclear weapon by cutting its number of centrifuges to 5,000 and by reducing its reserve of low-enriched uranium from around 10,000 kilograms to 300. The deal also allows international inspectors access to "all Iran's nuclear facilities." The deal also regulates the use of Iran’s Arak plutonium plant, Fordow facility, and Natanz facility. The Arak plutonium plant’s core must be destroyed or exported, the Fordow facility must be used for “peaceful purposes only”, and the Natanz facility is the only facility allowed to carry out uranium enrichment. All of these regulations increase the time required to produce a nuclear bomb to one year. Representatives in the Middle East have argued that this agreement would threaten the survival of Iran by taking away their only means of self-defense. Congress is reviewing the deal for 60 days and must vote on a resolution by September 17th. 

         My opinion is that Obama is trying to cram his last year in office with as much  'positive'         political action as possible in order to try and increase his dropping job approval ratings, which have been greatly affected by his setbacks in foreign policy (60% of U.S voters disapprove of his management of relations with Iran). Trying to hastily come up with a resolve to the unstable conditions in the Middle East is not going to prove successful in the long run, and could even be dangerous.

Link:http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/08/30/vote-tally-for-iran-nuclear-deal-rises-to-31-in-senate?int=a77309