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Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) will support the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, he announced Thursday.
“I believe that supporting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiated between Iran and the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China is the best option for advancing the goal of keeping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” the senator said in a statement.
“While I believe there are several areas of concern with the agreement, the choice I ultimately had to make was between accepting an imperfect deal, or facing the serious ramifications if Congress rejected a deal that has the support of the rest of the world,” he added.
“This agreement is just the beginning, and not the end, of our combined international efforts to keep Iran free of nuclear weapons.”
Snagging Warner’s support is another victory for President Obama ahead of a congressional vote on the deal when lawmakers return to Washington after Labor Day.
It brings the number of Senate Democrats backing the deal to 36, two more than is needed to sustain a presidential veto of a resolution to reject the deal.
If 41 senators support Obama’s agreement, which would lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program, they would be able to filibuster a GOP-led resolution of disapproval.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest first announced that Virginia senator would back the agreement during his daily press briefing. Warner released his statement shortly after.
