Defense secretary testifies in support of Iran nuclear deal

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday that the U.S. armed forces stand ready to confront Iran, but told lawmakers that a successful implementation of the nuclear agreement with Tehran is preferable to a military strike.

Carter, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and three members of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet testified at a committee hearing.

It was part of the White House’s aggressive campaign to convince Congress to back the Iranian nuclear deal, which calls on Iran to curb its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

On Wednesday, about 100 House Democrats went to the White House, where Obama spoke about the agreement for about 30 minutes in the East Room. The representatives had to leave to vote at the Capitol, but some were returning in the evening for a question-and-answer session.

Today, Vice President Joe Biden will host members of the House Democratic Caucus for breakfast at the Naval Observatory to discuss the deal.

Carter said there is a possibility that the nuclear agreement will move forward, but will not be “successfully implemented.”

“That’s why we are under instructions from the president to preserve, and indeed we are improving – and I can’t get into that here – the military option,” Carter said. “Temporary as it is, it needs to be there because that’s our fall back.”

At the same time, Carter said that the successful implementation of the agreement would be better than taking military action, because a strike would be temporary and likely would make Iran “irreconcilably resigned” to getting a nuclear weapon.

Congress, which has begun a 60-day review of the deal, is expected to vote in September. If the Republican-controlled Congress passes a resolution of disapproval for the deal, Obama has said he will veto it. The administration is hoping to secure the backing of Democrats to sustain the veto.