Barack Obama Pushes Liberals To Speak Out on Iran Deal

Image by Getty Images
President Barack Obama on Thursday told groups that support the Iran nuclear deal to make their voices heard to Congress to counter the millions of dollars in lobbying by those who want to derail the agreement.
“Right now the opponents of this deal have been flooding Congressional offices,” Obama said on a call with groups including the Washington-based think tank Center for American Progress.
Groups who opposed the deal, such as American Israel Public Affairs Committee known as AIPAC, have spent $20 million in TV ads to put pressure on members of Congress, Obama said.
“They start getting squishy because they’re feeling the political heat,” Obama said of members of Congress he has met with in recent weeks.
Obama did not thank the groups for any of their support so far, but rather pressured them to step up their efforts.
He drew comparisons to the lead up to the Iraq war, noting that groups who opposed it were not vocal until it was too late.
“In the absence of your voices, you are going to see the same array of voices that got us into the Iraq war, leading to a situation in which we forgo a historic opportunity and we are back on the path of potential military conflict,” Obama said.
If upheld, the deal is certain to shape Obama’s legacy as he prepares to leave office. He said he has never been more certain of a policy decision.
Congress is currently reviewing the deal that the United States and other world powers negotiated with Iran to limit its nuclear capabilities in exchange for a relief of sanctions.
Opponents of the deal question whether it goes far enough to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon.
Congress has until Sept. 17 to approve or reject the agreement. Obama has said he would veto any legislation that undermines the deal, but Congress could override his veto with enough votes.
Four Democratic representatives voiced their support for the deal on Thursday, including Senate candidate Chris Van Hollen and Dan Kildee, who represents the district of Amir Hekmati, who is being held in Iran.
The White House said its supporters so far have contributed to 70,704 emails and 63,862 calls to members of Congress, urging them to not reject the deal.
The White House did not provide a list of all the groups on the call.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 2
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 3
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
- 4
Opinion Mike Huckabee said there’s ‘no such thing as a Palestinian.’ It’s worth thinking about what that means
In Case You Missed It
-
Books The White House Seder started in a Pennsylvania basement — its legacy lives on
-
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
-
Fast Forward Yarden Bibas says ‘I am here because of Trump’ and pleads with him to stop the Gaza war
-
Fast Forward Trump’s plan to enlist Elon Musk began at Lubavitcher Rebbe’s grave
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.