Barack Obama turned his opposition to the Iraq war into a trump card against critics of the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday, in a speech that accused “armchair” warmongers in Washington of luring Congress toward another military conflict in the Middle East.



As US lawmakers prepare for a potentially crippling vote of disapproval, his verbal assault not just on arguments against the deal, but on the credibility of the hawks making them, marks a new chapter in what may prove the most intensive legislative battle of his presidency.

“Between now and the congressional vote in September, you are going to hear a lot of arguments against this deal backed by tens of millions of dollars of advertising,” Obama said. “If the arguments sound familiar, they should. Many of the same people who argued for the war in Iraq are now making the case against the Iran nuclear deal.”

In a speech that also drew comparisons with the cold war arms talks of John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, the president warned against heeding the “drumbeat of war” from “lobbyists and pundits ... transformed into armchair nuclear scientists, challenging real experts”.

“Let’s not mince words, the choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some form of war. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon,” he told an audience at the same American University location used by Kennedy to call for detente in 1963.

“Resist the conventional wisdom and the drumbeat of war,” urged the president in an open retort to his Republican critics. “Worry less about being labeled weak, worry more about getting it right.”



Obama’s speech comes as Republican leaders in Congress begin efforts to reject the deal by announcing plans to vote on a resolution of disapproval in September, after lawmakers return from a summer recess.



Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, on Tuesday pledged a vote on a resolution of disapproval introduced by California representative Ed Royce, the Republican who chairs the House foreign affairs committee. Mitch McConnell, the majority leader in the Senate, also signaled on Tuesday that his chamber would vote on a resolution of disapproval, which would be designed to prevent the Obama administration from implementing the nuclear agreement with Iran.



Based on an agreement reached in May, Congress was given 60 days to review the nuclear deal before voting on a resolution of either approval or disapproval. A two-thirds majority would be required in both the House and the Senate to override a presidential veto.



With Republicans almost uniformly against the deal, Obama will have to rely on Democrats – who have mostly been cautious in their public statements thus far – to stand with the president.

Obama has aggressively courted Democrats in recent weeks, hosting the entire House Democratic caucus at the White House last week and dispatching secretary of state John Kerry, energy secretary Ernest Moniz, and treasury secretary Jack Lew to provide numerous briefings – both closed and public – on Capitol Hill.

But Wednesday’s speech was the most forthright attack yet on the “knee-jerk partisanship” and “exaggerated threats” that the president claims are really behind the opposition.

“Those who say we can walk away from this deal and maintain sanctions are selling a fantasy,” claimed Obama. “Walk away from this agreement and you will get a better deal: for Iran.”

“I have had to make a lot of tough calls as US president, but whether this deal is good for American security is not one of those tough calls,” he added. “It’s not even close.”

In a rare move, the speech was also aired live on Iranian state television, to the astonishment of some viewers. “It’s stunning that the Iranian TV is airing the #ObamaAtAU live now. millions watching..powerful defence of #Irandeal,” tweeted Iranian journalist Omid Memarian.

It's stunning that the Iranian TV is airing the #ObamaAtAU live now. millions watching..powerful defence of #Irandeal pic.twitter.com/H2WstmPP33 — Omid Memarian (@Omid_M) August 5, 2015

This was not the first time Iran’s national television broadcast a speech by Obama. Obama’s formal presidential address announcing that diplomats in Vienna had reached a historic agreement was also broadcast live in Iran last month.

Iran’s state TV also streamed US secretary of state John Kerry’s grilling before Congress late last month, but the network stole a live feed and simultaneous translation from the BBC’s Persian service, which is loathed by the Iranian establishment. The BBC eventually relocated their watermark to the center of the screen in retaliation, abruptly ending the pirated broadcast mid-stream.

White House efforts have begun to pay dividends, with several key Democrats coming out in favor of the deal this week. Three senators who were viewed as on the fence – Bill Nelson of Florida, Tim Kaine of Virginia and Barbara Boxer of California – all backed the president on Tuesday, and as did several House Democrats.

Some early defections include Jewish Democrats in Congress, who have been sceptical of the deal since the beginning. But at least one of them – Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee – sided with Obama in a sign that momentum for the agreement is growing within the president’s party.

McConnell nonetheless highlighted on Wednesday the congressional Democrats who have criticised the deal as evidence of “growing bipartisan concern”.

“It’s clear this deal is making members of both parties uneasy – and with good reason,” McConnell said on the Senate floor ahead of Obama’s speech. “Senators and the American people are being asked to weigh the consequences of what it would mean to allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold state with the power to dominate its neighbors, spread its influence, and threaten our allies. This is a serious decision to make, with serious consequences for our country. America deserves a debate worthy of it.”

McConnell would still need 13 Democrats in the Senate to buck the president and join Republicans to override a veto. In the House, 44 Democrats would be needed to do the same.

The odds, at least for now, appear to be shifting in Obama’s favor – but it was clear the president was taking nothing for granted on Wednesday.

“As members of Congress reflect on their pending decision, I urge them to set aside political concerns, shut out the noise, consider the stakes involved with the vote that you will cast,” he said. “If Congress kills this deal, we will lose more than just constraints on Iran’s nuclear program or the sanctions we have painstakingly built. We will have lost something more precious: America’s credibility as a leader of diplomacy and the anchor of the international system.”