Rand Paul: Congress Will Reject the Iran Deal

Sen. Rand Paul believes that the United States Congress will reject the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran.

“There’s a very good chance that Congress will vote to disapprove of the agreement,” Paul tells The Daily Signal. “I think there’s a very good chance the president will then veto it, and then the real question is, will there be 67 votes to overcome this?”

Congress is expected to vote on a resolution regarding the controversial deal sometime in September.

The Obama administration is focused on making sure it has enough Democrats on board to sustain a veto. Recently, the administration picked up support from two more Democrat House members, including Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. Democrat Sen. Tom Udall is also on board.

Senate GOP leadership is pressing the Obama administration to provide the so-called “side agreements” that the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran have in place. For Paul, one of the biggest problems with the deal is the process of how sanctions are lifted.

“What I would have preferred in this agreement would be that we gradually reduce sanctions over a several-year period,” he said, “so therefore we can continue to use those as leverage to try and enforce compliance on Iran’s part.”

Paul says ultimately this deal will require the United States to trust the Iranians, and that’s a big leap of faith.

“The thing that bothers me and what I’m concerned about is whether or not we can have leverage to continue to have Iran comply. They have to show some initial steps, but the question is, will they consistently comply?”