Congressional Support for Iran Deal Grows

Nunn & Lugar support Iran deal - “Congress must recognize that there is no such thing as ‘perfect’ verification. What is crucial, however, is whether ‘effective’ verification can be achieved,” writes Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar in POLITICO. “Can cheating be detected in time to take action before Iran could achieve a militarily significant advance? We believe the answer to that question is yes.”

--“The monitoring and verification provisions of this agreement are unprecedented in the history of arms control in their comprehensiveness and intrusiveness, and together with our intelligence capabilities should give us powerful tools to achieve effective verification.”

--“Members of Congress must think long and hard about the consequences if this agreement is turned down… There will inevitably be grave implications for U.S. security and for U.S. international leadership... U.S. leadership, diplomacy and credibility, including efforts to achieve support for possible military action against Iran, will all be severely damaged.” Read more here. http://politi.co/1JGuUoJ

Tweet - @PeterJBX: Poll shows majority wants Congress to approve the #IranDeal http://bit.ly/1KoYf9B

Booker’s Choice - “As New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker considers whether to support or reject the nuclear deal with Iran next month, he should evaluate the deal on the merits… If Sen. Booker chooses to follow in the footsteps of fellow New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, who announced his opposition to the deal earlier this month, he risks U.S. national security interests and the best, viable option to block Iran's pathways to nuclear weapons.”

--“Or Sen. Booker could choose to lead and support the deal, which will put in place long-term restrictions on Iran's nuclear activities and put its program under a microscope,” writes Kelsey Davenport for The Star Ledger. “Sen. Booker has stated that his decision to support or reject the nuclear deal will be based on what is best for the safety and security of the United States. This is a complex agreement with significant security ramifications — it deserves that level of careful deliberation.” Full story here. http://bit.ly/1huJrsK

Tweet - @NewDay: Next hour: @madeleine joins us to discuss her new @CNNOpinion piece about the #IranDeal. Read it here: http://cnn.it/1EsIH23

House Dems narrow the gap - “Three House Democrats from New York and a House Democrat from Florida who is running for a Senate seat endorsed President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran on Monday, lending fresh momentum to the pact from political quarters that once appeared most leery of it,” writes Alexander Burns for The New York Times.

--“In rapid succession, Representatives Nydia M. Velázquez, Gregory W. Meeks and Yvette Clarke of New York backed the deal, as did Representative Patrick Murphy, the Democratic establishment’s choice to compete for the Senate seat being vacated by the Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio.” Full story here. http://nyti.ms/1UjZOu3

Faslane Trident base modernization plans - “UK finance minister’s pledge to allocate some 500 million pounds ($770 million) to fund Faslane Trident submarine base is the first step to the renewal of the country’s nuclear arsenal, the head of Scotland's Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) told Sputnik on Monday… ‘Although it was presented as creating more jobs, basically it is spending money on a commitment to replace and renew the nuclear weapons system,’” said John Ainslie, the coordinator of the Scottish CND… “‘There is certainly a growing momentum of people being opposed to it.’”

--“The final decision on the issue of replacing Tridents is expected to be taken in the British parliament in 2016. Conservatives, who won the general election in May, advocate preserving the UK nuclear arsenal and replacing the existing ballistic-missile armed submarines with a new class.” Ainslie added, “‘It is not just a waste of money, it is spending money on indiscriminate weapons of mass destruction. No modern society should have nuclear weapons.’” Read more here. http://bit.ly/1hR2JJF

Tweet - @wef: Who owns the world’s #nuclear warheads?http://bit.ly/1PIVTQQ

Kazakhstan future site of uranium fuel bank -  “On August 27, the government of Kazakhstan signed an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to establish an international low-enriched uranium fuel bank in the country. This bank… will be owned and managed by the IAEA. It will give members access to enriched nuclear fuel in cases of disruption to their own supply, thus removing the need for countries to build their own enrichment facilities, which pose a proliferation risk.”

--The Kazakh government announced, “We in Kazakhstan hope that other states can learn from the grave consequences brought upon us by nuclear testing and our decision to dismantle atomic weapons… We have long urged [Iran] to follow our lead and renounce nuclear arms. The final Iran deal specifically says that Iran will have the option to sell its excess enriched uranium to the IAEA fuel bank in Kazakhstan once it becomes operational in 2017.” Read more at Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists here. http://bit.ly/1JyXHY9

Open letter from Iranian activists - “More than 50 prominent Iranian dissidents, political reformers and other civil society activists have written an open letter to the people of the United States, urging them to lobby members of Congress to support the Iran nuclear deal,” reports Nick Gass for POLITICO. “Their public statement could put them at even greater risk for attacks by hard-liners in Iran who do not support the deal.”

--“The Iranian signatories say that the nuclear agreement ‘holds the promise of the gradual realization of these universal values within Iran, along with the possibility of better relations between our two nations… We look forward to a day in the future when Iranians no longer have to write open letters to Americans, but can meet face to face with mutual respect and dignity based on shared civilizational values that bind us together as citizens of this planet,’ they write.” Read more. http://politi.co/1Kp9Wgo

Quick Hits:

--“Kennedy Statement on Iran Nuclear Deal,” Press release from the office of Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA). http://1.usa.gov/1LQPDbZ

--“A Normal Nuclear Pakistan,” by Toby Dalton and Michael Krepon for Stimson. http://bit.ly/1U8j9yn

--“Hiroshima Youth: Pledge to Abolish Nuclear Weapons,” for ETN. http://bit.ly/1O5FNQO

--“Scientists Support the Iran Deal,” by David Wright for The Equation. http://bit.ly/1JzTyWP

Events:

--“Limiting Non-Strategic Nuclear Weapons: Results of a Track II Dialogue,” featuring Sharon Squassoni, Andrew Kuchins, Steven Pifer, Guy Roberts and Col. Jeff MaCausland (ret.). Friday, September 4th from 9:00 - 11:00 AM at CSIS, Second Floor Conference Room 212-B, 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1IEd7cE

--“The Iran Nuclear Deal is a Win for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Security: A Discussion on the Impact and the Next Steps,” featuring Colin Kahl, Ellie Geranmayeh, George Perkovich and Kelsey Davenport. Tuesday, September 8th from 9:00 - 11:00 AM at Carnegie Endowment, Choate Room, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1IEh8xV

--“The Iran Nuclear Agreement: Now or Never,” featuring Samuel Berger, Thomas Pickering, Joseph Cirincione and Ali Vaez. Tuesday, September 8th from 1:00 - 3:00 PM at 236 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC. RSVP by email to Ben Kaufman: bkaufman@crisisgroup.org or Geoff Wilson: gwilson@ploughshares.org.

--“How Europe Will Respond to the Iran Nuclear Agreement,” featuring Jean-Marie Guehenno, Wolfgang Ischinger, Suzanne Maloney and Cornelius Adebahr. Wednesday, September 9th from 12:15 - 1:45 PM at Carnegie Endowment, Choate Room, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://ceip.org/1O5Prmq

--“Emerging Missile Defense and SMDC Requirements,” featuring Lt. Gen. David Mann, Commander U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Wednesday, September 16th from 8:00 - 9:00 AM at Capitol Hill Club, 300 First Street SE, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://conta.cc/1Iu22Qe

--“Conference on the Enduring Value of Nuclear Deterrence,” featuring Gen. Robin Rand, Lt. Gen. Jack Weinstein, Gen. Larry Welch (ret.), Gen. Robert Kehler (ret.), Frank Miller and Vice Adm. Terry Benedict. Thursday, September 17th from 7:30 AM - 1:40 PM at the Capitol Hill Club, 300 First Street SE, Washington, DC. RSVP by email: lisam@minotchamber.org.