Congress pressurizing Obama over Iran

American professor Paul Sheldon Foote says that Congress is pressurizing the Obama administration over Iran’s nuclear deal in order to conduct political maneuvering in the run-up to the midterm elections.

“We have very important elections in the couple of weeks coming, so this is an ideal time to go into these political maneuvers,” Foote told Press TV on Wednesday.

In the first week of November, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested. Also at stake are 38 state and territorial governorships, 46 state legislatures, and numerous state and local races.

Now, several lawmakers on Capitol Hill are openly criticizing the White House for its plans to avoid a vote in Congress on any nuclear accord with Iran.

The Obama administration is reportedly planning to suspend sanctions without an immediate vote in Congress, but it says lawmakers will have the final word on whether to permanently terminate sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
 
“There should have been no sanctions to begin with against Iran or anybody else,” Foote said.

“This is a chance to posture in the last minute, the Senate is up for grabs,” he added.

He also said that American people, by voting in the elections, can show whether they recognize American values or stand by Israel.
 
“This (the election) will give a chance for people to show what they’re really stand for  — proper American values or they stand on the side of the AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and the Zionist totalitarians,” he stated.
 
The powerful Israel lobby is leading the charge against lifting anti-Iran sanctions.

“I’m delighted to see that the president is going through this posturing at this stage, it couldn’t be a better time to force the issue,” the American academic noted. 

AT/GJH