Senator Coons discusses stance on Iran Nuclear Deal

The Iran Nuclear Deal is being referred to as a landmark agreement. The U.S. and several other world powers reached the decision on July 14th.

However, its fate rests in the hands of some undecided and skeptical members of Congress. One of them is Delaware U.S. Senator Chris Coons.

This deal means Iran has agreed to limit it’s nuclear program and submit most parts of it to a new inspections regime. In exchange, Iran would benefit from billions of dollars in relief from economic sanctions which have really hurt their economy.

President Obama has made phone calls to many undecided lawmakers. Senator Coons got one last Friday. He expressed to the president his gut feeling when reviewing the deal, which he describes as “grave concern.”

Coons says, “The Iranian regime is not trustworthy. They’re the leading state sponsor of terrorism that have been directly involved in killing American servicemen during our involvement in Iraq.”

Senator Coons, a former lawyer, is meticulously going through this agreement. He’s also taking meeting with colleagues,  mentors and listening to his constituents.

Coons says, “I’m very mindful of the hundreds of Delawareans who have called me and would like to see us try diplomacy. The alternative would ultimately be more sanctions and at some point a military conflict.”

47 ABC asked Senator Coons what would happen if he were casting the deciding vote on the deal and he voted no. Coons says, “Well some and the pro Israel community are arguing forcefully that because of America is sort of the leading financial and banking center, we have the ability to force all of our allies to join us.”

However, there is a lot of skepticism about joining the U.S. in walking away from the deal. There is skepticism from the financial community, the diplomatic community and particularly with the ambassadors of the key allies that negotiated this deal with the U.S.

For example, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom had a very blunt conversation with Senator Coons. He explained, “Our government stands completely behind this agreement. If you walk away from it don’t expect us to follow you.”  

It’s a nerve-wracking thought considering the British are often considered America’s most trusted ally. However Coons, who’s also a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says he’s read all one- hundred and sixty pages of the Nuclear Deal. He says there are good aspects.

Senator Coons continues, “We get real inspections for our intelligence community and for our ability to understand what’s going on in Iran. This would be a big step forward.”

However, the senator believes the positives may not be enough because it still comes back to one thing, trust.

He goes on, “Frankly I’m not very optimistic about that. I don’t trust the Iranian regime at all.”

Senator Coons says he plans to make a decision whether or not to support the deal by the end of this month.

September 17th is the voting deadline for congress. It’s not predicted to pass. If the House and Senate reject the deal, President Obama has pledged to veto their rejection.

However, the House and the Senate have the ability to override the veto. Republicans are expected to reject the deal ;but they would still need 44 Democrats in the House and 13 Democrats in the Senate to help override the veto.

To view the ENTIRE interview with Senator Chris Coons, click here.