David Cameron, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel defended the Iran nuclear deal on Thursday.
The leaders of Britain, France and Germany wrote a piece in the Washington Post ahead of a vote by the US Congress next week describing the deal as "a crucial opportunity at a time of heightened global uncertainty to show what diplomacy can achieve."
The article did note that the Iranian nuclear programme "posed a serious threat — not only to the security of Iran’s neighbours and for Israel, but also to our countries." However, they said that the “tightly written controls” included in the deal will prevent Iran from breaking its terms.
“Iran will have strong incentives not to cheat: The near certainty of getting caught and the consequences that would follow would make this a losing option,” they wrote.
Continuing to look at Israel, the European leaders "condemn[ed] in no uncertain terms that Iran does not recognise the existence of the state of Israel and the unacceptable language that Iran’s leaders use about Israel.
“Israel’s security matters are, and will remain, our key interests.”
On Thursday, Senate Democrats blocked a resolution of disapproval of the Iran deal, all but handing President Barack Obama victory in getting the agreement passed into law.
Just afterwards, however, the House of Representatives approved a measure that sets up a legal challenge to the deal.
Congressman Peter Roskam started the ball rolling on a legal challenge when he demanded access to two agreements negotiated between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The two “side agreements” he said, must be submitted for congressional review as part of the terms the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, passed in May.
