Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders backs Obama's agreement with Iran

Nicole Gaudiano | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, announced Friday he will support an agreement with Iran to limit its nuclear program.

The Vermont independent issued his statement after President Obama addressed some of Sanders’ concerns during a Friday telephone call, according to his office. He discussed his intention to vote in favor of the agreement during an interview that will be broadcast Sunday on “Face the Nation.”

“The test of a great nation is not how many wars it can engage in, but how it can resolve international conflicts in a peaceful manner,” Sanders said in the statement. “The war in Iraq, which I opposed, destabilized the entire region, helped create the Islamic State, cost the lives of 6,700 brave men and women and resulted in hundreds of thousands of others in our armed forces returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. I fear that many of my Republican colleagues do not understand that war must be a last resort, not the first resort.”

Sanders’ announcement follows Sen. Chuck Schumer’s decision to oppose the international agreement. Schumer, D-N.Y., who is in line to become the Senate’s top Democrat in 2017, said Thursday he could not support the agreement because it would not change Iran's "belligerent activities in the Middle East," including its funding of terrorism against Israel.

Congress is expected to vote on the deal in September. Obama would need 34 senators, or 165 representatives, to sustain his veto of a resolution disapproving the deal. With Republicans united, he can lose only 22 Democrats in the House or nine in the Senate. Schumer’s vote was closely watched because of his seniority and influence among Jewish Democrats.

Sanders, who was raised Jewish and spent time living on an Israeli kibbutz after college, said the United States must make certain that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon, that Israel isn’t threatened by a nuclear Iran and that a nuclear arms race in the region is avoided.

He credited Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry with working through a “very difficult process” with Iran and U.S. negotiating partners from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China and Russia.

“This agreement is obviously not all that many of us would have liked but it beats the alternative – a war with Iran that could go on for years,” Sanders said in his statement. “If Iran does not live up to the agreement, sanctions may be reapplied. If Iran moves toward a nuclear weapon, all available options remain on the table. I think it is incumbent upon us, however, to give the negotiated agreement a chance to succeed.”

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Gregory Korte of USA TODAY contributed to this story.

Contact Nicole Gaudiano at ngaudiano@gannett.com. Follow @ngaudiano