Obama wins over Jewish Democrat Nadler on Iran

President Barack Obama is looking pretty confident about the fate of his Iran nuclear deal in Congress next month.

The president, seeking to reassure a Democratic congressman who represents the most Jewish district in the nation, this week called the nuclear agreement he negotiated with Iran a “very good deal,” even as he pointedly refused to rule out military intervention if Tehran pursues a nuclear weapon.


The arguments appear to be working with Democrats he needs to persuade. After Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who represents tens of thousands of Jewish constituents in Manhattan and Brooklyn, received a letter from the president this week, the congressman announced his support for the nuclear deal and condemned the “demagoguery and hateful rhetoric” being used in the Iran debate.

Nadler had been openly skeptical of the deal’s ability to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions and concerned about the deal’s effect on the U.S.-Israel relationship, but said Friday morning that Obama’s letter “satisfies a number of those concerns.”

Nadler’s release of such correspondence between Capitol Hill and the president is another sign that Obama is staying personally engaged in the congressional tussle over Iran in a manner that diverges from his largely. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), whose office has been working over the break to build momentum for the Iran deal, touted Nadler’s decision in a statement Friday.

“His communications with the President seeking assurances from the Administration provide a valuable understanding on the path forward for all members,” Pelosi said.

In the letter, sent Wednesday while Obama was vacationing in Martha’s Vineyard, Obama never explicitly mentions the upcoming September vote on the Iran deal in Congress or the political stakes for his presidency if Congress scuttled the agreement. Instead, he focused on specific details surrounding the agreement.

On the U.S. relationship with Israel, Obama noted the $20 billion in military financing his administration has delivered to Israel since he came into office and vowed to secure a new 10-year deal for more military assistance to the nation. The president stressed that Iran still must confront painful non-nuclear sanctions even as the international community begins lifting economic penalties on Tehran, saying Iran will face crippling “snap-back” sanctions if it does not follow through on the agreement.

Or, Obama says, Iran could face much steeper consequences if its nuclear program takes on military dimensions in the future.

The agreement “does not remove any of our options when it comes to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. As I have repeatedly emphasized, my administration will take whatever means are necessary to achieve that goal, including military means,” Obama wrote. “Should Iran seek to dash toward a nuclear weapon, all of the options available to the United States — including the military option — will remain available through the life of the deal and beyond.”

According to Democrats closely following the process, the level of engagement from the White House and State Department over the August recess is nearly unprecedented ahead of a major vote. Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz have joined the president’s personal appeals to undecided lawmakers.

The White House appears to have the upper hand, steadily approaching enough votes to prevent Congress from overriding his veto of a resolution rejecting the deal. Just two Senate Democrats and a dozen House Democrats currently oppose the deal publicly.

”I feel confident that we will sustain the President’s veto, and we will all work together to hold Iran accountable,” Pelosi said in a Friday letter to House Democratic lawmakers.