Democrat Alcee Hastings rejects Iran accord, calls for war authorization

Another Democratic congressman, Alcee Hastings, has announced opposition to the nuclear agreement with Iran, pledging to draft a war authorization against the Islamic Republic.

“After careful review, I have decided that I cannot support this deal,” Hastings wrote in a column for The Palm Beach Post, published on Thursday.

“The goal of the recently concluded negotiations was to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The negotiators worked diligently, but in the end, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) allows Iran to remain a nuclear threshold state while simultaneously reaping the benefits of relief from international sanctions,” he argued.

Hastings also said he would introduce legislation on September 8 “that authorizes the sitting president or his successors to use military force to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state.”

The Florida Democrat argued it is an “absolute necessity” to clear the president’s path to use military force against Iran, “regardless of how Congress votes” on the Iran agreement.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries-- the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – announced the conclusion of nuclear talks on July 14.

According to the JCPOA, Iran will be recognized by the United Nations as a nuclear power and will continue with its uranium enrichment program. Some restrictions will be placed on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

“Under the JCPOA, Iran is limited to approximately 6,100 first-generation IR-1 centrifuges for a period of 10-15 years,” Hastings said.

“However, after this time passes, Iran will again have the ability to pursue its nuclear program with more advanced centrifuges. Iran simply needs to be patient and it will once again have the ability to enrich uranium,” he added.

The Republican-led Congress is reviewing the nuclear agreement and is likely to vote on it in mid-September.

Lawmakers are widely expected to reject the accord, but it would take a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to override a presidential veto.

In a major break with the White House on August 6, Jewish Senator Charles Schumer from New York announced that he would vote against the agreement.

Moments after his announcement, Representative Eliot Engel, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also declared that he would join Obama’s rivals to oppose the nuclear accord. 

A number of other Democrats have since broken ranks with the White House on the Iran agreement.

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