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Iran Deputy FM Supports Congressional Plan To Filibuster Vote On Nuclear Deal

A proposal to launch a filibuster in order to prevent a Congressional vote on the nuclear deal with Iran was supported by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Baidinejad, the Tehran Times reported Sunday.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Baidinejad has welcomed a plan by U.S. Democratic congressmen to filibuster a likely rejection of the Iranian nuclear deal.

Writing on his Instagram page on Saturday, the diplomat said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid’s recent remarks about the filibuster intentions give a bright perspective about the case, ISNA reported.

A majority of both houses of Congress oppose the deal, but if more than forty senators support it, they could filibuster and prevent a vote. The vote was mandated by the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, which passed 98-1 in the Senate and by a similar margin in the House, and states that Congress must approve of the deal before it goes into effect, though President Barack Obama could veto their disapproval.

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who co-wrote the Act with Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), expressed his frustration over the potential filibuster. “All but one senator voted in favor of having the right to vote on the final deal, so then to turn right around and filibuster it to me is very inconsistent and I think would be confusing to the people they represent,” he told the Associated Press Sunday.

Polls show strong support nationwide for Congressional review of the nuclear deal. A poll released last week showed that more than 80 percent of Americans did not want Iran to receive sanctions relief without Congressional approval. Polls also show strong opposition to the deal itself: A nationwide survey earlier this month found that 56 percent of Americans want their legislators to oppose the nuclear deal. And another poll showed that voters in the critical swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida opposed the agreement by a margin greater than 2-1.

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