Sun Sentinel Broward Edition

Jewish groups hear Obama’s pitch

- Tribune Newspapers’ Laura King in Cairo contribute­d. By Paul Richter Tribune Washington Bureau prichter@tribune.com

President says rejecting the nuclear deal would let Iran continue enriching uranium.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama insisted Friday that he and fellow supporters of the Iran nuclear deal have received more rhetorical abuse than they’ve dished out in the divisive debate over the agreement.

Speaking to two Jewish groups in a live webcast from the White House, Obama said he had to “challenge a little bit the idea that there’s been an equivalenc­e in the heated rhetoric.”

He noted that Rep. Jerrold Nadler was labeled a “traitor” along with other slurs after he became the lone Jewish Democrat from New York to endorse the deal, which would lift economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on nuclear enrichment.

Nadler has been “attacked in ways that are appalling,” Obama said. It was “the kind of stuff that people have to be deeply concerned about.”

In response to questions, Obama denied he had labeled critics of the deal “war mongers.”

But he repeated his argument that rejection of the deal would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium and leave few options but military action to stop them from obtaining enough for a nuclear weapon.

Congress faces a selfimpose­d Sept. 17 deadline to vote on a resolution to reject the deal.

But the White House appears to have built a firewall in the House, where more than enough Democrats have signaled they will support a presidenti­al veto if necessary, and may win sufficient support in the Senate as well.

Critics who insist Congress should reject the deal, and the White House should restart the negotia- tions, are misinforme­d, Obama said. The United States can’t renegotiat­e the deal without the support of the five other countries who bargained for the current deal nor could it force Iran back to the table with U.S. sanctions alone.

He took questions from leaders of the Jewish Federation­s of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizati­ons.

With Israel’s government fiercely opposed to the deal, the issue has deeply divided American Jews and led to bitter conflicts within some congregati­ons.

Most American Jewish organizati­ons seem to oppose the deal, although some polls suggest that the majority of American Jews, as individual­s, support it.

Some opponents have claimed an anti-Semitic undertone in supporters’ complaints that pro-Israel groups were spending tens of millions of dollars on lobbying campaigns.

Obama said he sought to ignore the angry denunciati­ons of America by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s most powerful figure. Obama said he considered the invective as political messages meant for a domestic audience.

“He’s a politician, and I guess that’s the way politician­s operate, even in Iran,” Obama said.

Although Iran will receive an estimated $56 billion from frozen overseas accounts when the deal gets underway, Obama played down the potential impact. He said most of the windfall will pay for domestic needs, and said no analysts are predicting it will bring a “qualitativ­e change” in Iran’s military.

Obama said future presidents will be in a stronger position to respond if Iran seeks a nuclear bomb after the ban on enrichment expires in 15 years. The future president can still use sanctions or military action but with the benefit of 15 years of on-the-ground intelligen­ce about Iran’s nuclear activities, he said.

Obama stressed his personal support for Israel and the American Jewish community.

“I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for the friendship and support of Jewish supporters across the country,” he said.

In Tehran, Friday brought new evidence that Iranian hard-liners are coming around to the accord, two days after Khamenei offered tacit support by officially thanking the negotiatin­g team.

But Khamenei coupled that with an urging to be “careful and cautious” about U.S. and Israeli “trickery.”

At Friday prayers, the most important of the Muslim week, imams echoed Khamenei’s language. These sermons are carefully vetted as policy statements, and the one at the main prayers in Tehran refrained from any direct attacks on the accord, even while warning that “enemies want to create misunderst­andings … in the post-sanctions era.”

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 ?? JOE RAEDLE/GETTY ?? President Barack Obama says rejection of the nuclear deal would let Iran continue enriching uranium.
JOE RAEDLE/GETTY President Barack Obama says rejection of the nuclear deal would let Iran continue enriching uranium.

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