Philipp Akcermann, left, hands German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer his speech at Princeton University. German ally calls rejection of Iran deal a 'catastrophe' “We are convinced that this deal makes Israel safer,” German official says.

A top German official warned Thursday of a “nightmare” and a “catastrophe” if Congress derails the Iran nuclear deal, and cited Germany’s unique relationship with Israel as a reason why it would not accept an agreement that endangers that country.

“The option of getting back to the negotiating table is close to zero” if Congress votes down the nuclear deal, said Philipp Ackermann, Berlin’s second-ranking diplomat in Washington. Ackermann argued that rejection of the deal struck by seven countries would empower hard-liners in Tehran who insist the U.S. cannot be trusted. “These people will say it’s useless to negotiate” with the outside world, he said.


That would undermine international negotiations in general, he added, and damage the credibility of future agreements struck by diplomats. “It would be a nightmare … a catastrophe.”

Congress is expected to vote in September on the nuclear deal. A vote of disapproval would prevent President Barack Obama from lifting harsh U.S. sanctions on Iran, a step Tehran is expecting in return for limiting its nuclear program for more than a decade.

Congress can override a White House veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate. Virtually no Republicans are expected to back the deal, and while some political handicappers say the Obama administration can secure enough Democratic votes to defeat an override vote, that is not a given.

The intensity of the sales effort underway — including Obama’s combative address Wednesday and ardent lobbying by the European countries party to the deal — suggests real uncertainty about the outcome. Opponents of the deal insist they have a real chance at blocking it — although their cause was set back Thursday when Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, considered a key bellwether, declared her support for what she called an “imperfect deal.”

The nuclear deal was struck on July 14 in Vienna between Iran and the U.S., France, Great Britain, Germany, Russia and China.

Israel strongly opposes the deal, which gives many U.S. lawmakers pause. Ackermann said German officials have tried to assuage those concerns by citing Germany’s close relationship with Israel. German atonement for the Holocaust has produced what is often called a “special relationship” between the two countries. “We are Israel’s biggest friends in Europe,” Ackermann said, a view often echoed in Israeli media.

“We are convinced that this deal makes Israel safer,” Ackermann said. “It is really our conviction that Israel comes out safer as a result of this deal.” He added that Germany’s top negotiator in the Iran talks, Hans Dieter Lucas, has traveled to Israel to make that case to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — so far to no avail.

He added that Germany has a keen understanding of Iran based on decades of close contact, even after Tehran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power reactor — not at issue in the nuclear talks — was constructed by a German contractor. That understanding has informed a German conviction that a better deal with Iran is not possible. “In Germany there is no debate on this deal. Not in parliament and not in civil society,” he said.

Foreign diplomats have been stepping up their pitches on behalf of the deal in recent days. Earlier this week, officials from all five of America’s negotiating partners met with 25 Democratic senators to sell the deal. Both China’s and Russia’s ambassadors spoke on behalf of the agreement, notable given tense U.S. relations with those countries. One source who was present said neither the Chinese nor the Russian official addressed other diplomatic conflicts.

Opponents of the deal reject as alarmist the assertion that overturning the deal would backfire. Some propose that the U.S. can maintain its severe unilateral sanctions on Iran’s financial system even if United Nations and European Union sanctions are lifted. Obama warned Wednesday that doing so “could trigger severe disruptions in our own economy” because of conflicts with China’s financial system.

“What’s more likely to happen, should Congress reject this deal, is that Iran would end up with some form of sanctions relief without having to accept any of the constraints or inspections required by this deal,” Obama said.

Advancing the administration’s argument that virtually the entire world supports the deal, 15 Asian countries — including Japan, India, Indonesia, Australia and South Korea — issued a statement this week calling the deal an “important resolution” of the Iran nuclear issue that will “ensure the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.”