Democrats Look for Cover on Lousy Iran Deal

Nine Democrats trying frantically to dispel the impression that their party was sold a bill of goods on the Iran deal came out with legislation Thursday that they said would “strengthen U.S. policy toward Iran and to clarify aspects of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that is set to take effect.” It does nothing of the sort. “Completely toothless” is how one critic of the Iran deal put it. Moreover, in putting forth legislation trying to back-fill what President Obama gave away in the deal, they only highlight the deal’s infirmities and confirm that supporters were motivated by partisanship, not support for the substance of the deal.

In essence, the Democrats are saying that the critics were right, but they did not have the nerve to take the only meaningful vote, namely rejecting the deal.

Some of their suggestions are so painfully weak that one wonders why they bothered to include them. “Put in place expedited procedures for consideration” of new sanctions if Iran conducts terrorism against the United States or “substantially increases its operational or financial support for a terrorist organization that threatens U.S. interests or allies,” which is exactly what Iran is doing in Syria already. If they were serious, they’d simply pass new sanctions and put them in effect now. No wonder the most serious of the Democratic opponents to the Iran deal, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), did not sign on to this gibberish.

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Sanctions expert Mark Dubowitz tells me that “what the bill lacks is a set of meaningful provisions to target Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the most dangerous element of the regime, for its support for terrorism and human rights repression and to counter the economic benefits of the Iran agreement that will enrich and embolden the Guards.” He predicts that “without provisions like these with real teeth, I am doubtful that the bill will get broad bipartisan support.”

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