Your Source for NPR News & Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sen. Schumer Sees 'Serious Weakness' In Iran Arms Deal, Won't Back It

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A powerful Democrat says he's opposing President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. Senator Chuck Schumer published an article last night saying the agreement has serious shortcomings.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Schumer's decision is not a complete surprise. He's been skeptical of the deal for some time. But his move is significant. Congress has a chance next month to vote to block the Iran deal.

INSKEEP: Schumer is expected to be the next Democratic leader in the Senate. He's a longtime lawmaker from New York. And he is one of the nation's most prominent Jewish Democrats. He publicly talked over the Iran deal earlier this year in a speech before a Jewish group.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

CHUCK SCHUMER: Which is better, no agreement or an agreement that is not close to the ideal? And to me, there's not a clear-cut answer because each is (unintelligible).

GREENE: In that speech, Schumer said the deal that might look good enough to the United States could still be unacceptable to Israel. He said that even a small chance of a nuclear armed Iran was too great for Israel to tolerate.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SCHUMER: This is one of the most important decisions that I will ever make as an American as well as somebody who tries to be a Shomer Yisrael.

INSKEEP: Someone who tries to be a Shomer Yisrael, a guardian of Israel in Hebrew. In his post on Medium, Schumer said his decision reflects specific weaknesses in this deal, like some limits on nuclear inspection.

GREENE: He says the deal would be helpful in its early years but in later years would not do enough to restrain Iran's nuclear ambitions. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Related Stories