Kerry: US to Lose Political, Financial Clout in Event of Congress No Vote
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that the US is expected to lose its political and financial clout at international level if the Congress nixes the Iran nuclear accord.
Kerry made the remarks at a Reuters Newsmaker event on Tuesday, and added, "If we turn around and nix the deal and then tell them, 'You're going to have to obey our rules and sanctions anyway,' that is a recipe, very quickly ... for the American dollar to cease to be the reserve currency of the world.
“The reality of the situation is that the US dollar hasn’t been this strong in decades. The thought that it could be replaced as a reserve currency is laughable at this point on a geopolitical basis and nothing in the Iran deal even remotely touches upon that issue,” he added.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) on July 14 reached a conclusion on a lasting nuclear agreement that would terminate all sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear energy program after coming into force.
The 159-page deal has its own opponents and proponents both in Iran and the other countries that are parties to the JCPOA, particularly the US.
While the United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution to endorse the deal, the text of the document needs to be ratified by both Iran's Parliament and the US Congress.
President Obama has promised a swift veto in the event of a Congress possible rejection of the agreement in September. Lawmakers would then have to find enough votes to override the president.