WASHINGTON — Four Democrats, including one who represents an American hostage in Iran, said Thursday they would support the Iran nuclear deal in a major boost for President Barack Obama.
“It’s very clear to me that the agreement is the best path forward,” two-term Michigan Rep. Dan Kildee, who counts hostage Amir Hekmati as a constituent, told The Associated Press in an interview. “This agreement allows us to prevent (Iran) from gaining a nuclear weapon, and if they cheat, we will know it. If we don’t have the agreement, we don’t have that certainty.”
Hekmati, an American, has been held in Iran since 2011. Kildee said he has told Obama and Hekmati’s relatives about his decision to back the international agreement, which calls on Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee and a Senate candidate, said he would support the agreement, calling it “the best path to achieve our goal of ensuring that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon.”
A former sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, Hekmati was visiting his ailing grandmother in 2011 when he was arrested on suspicion of spying. He was charged in January 2012 with espionage and sentenced to death. His family denies the charge. He is one of four Americans held by Iran.
New Mexico Democratic Sen. Tom Udall and Rep. David Price, D-N.C., also announced their support for the agreement, a boost for Obama amid a week of furious lobbying on Capitol Hill.
“We have a choice between this deal or no deal” to stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, Udall said from the Senate floor. “I do not believe we will get another chance.”
Price said he believes the accord will “make the world a safer place.”
Rejecting the deal “would threaten not just our credibility on the international stage, but also our national security and that of our allies,” Price said in a statement. “That is not a risk I am willing to take.”
Their statements come after multiple White House meetings this week between Obama and House Democrats, intended to counter an intense lobbying effort by AIPAC, which is behind a multimillion-dollar ad campaign.
