Al Franken backs Iran deal, says Israel under threat without it

Democratic Senator Al Franken on Wednesday announced his support for the Iran nuclear deal, calling it a “strong” agreement, without which Israel and other American allies in the Middle East would be threatened.

Franken, a lawmaker from Minnesota, wrote in an op-ed published by CNN that the limitations the agreement imposes on Iran in the next decade and a half will make it next-to-impossible for the country to produce a nuclear weapon.

“It isn’t a perfect agreement. But it is a strong one. This agreement is, in my opinion, the most effective, realistic way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon anytime in the next 15 years,” he wrote.

Franken, who prior to his political career wrote for and performed in the American comedy show Saturday Night Live and hosted a political radio talk show, said that rejecting the agreement “would be a terrible mistake” that would increase Iran’s power and threaten Israel.

“And [if the deal is rejected], of course, Iran would be able to move forward on its nuclear program, endangering our interests in the region — especially Israel — and making it far more likely that we will find ourselves engaged in a military conflict there.”

“For a long time, it has looked like our only options when it came to Iran would be allowing it to have a nuclear bomb or having to bomb the country ourselves. This agreement represents a chance to break out of that no-win scenario,” he continued.

Franken called for increased support to US allies in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Israel, and maintaining “our terrorism-related sanctions, which are unaffected by the deal.”

Franken’s op-ed also attacked Republican lawmakers’ efforts to counter the deal, calling Senator Tom Cotton’s proposal of a four-day military attack on Iran “pure fantasy,” and a letter by 47 Republicans sent to Iranian leaders in March, threatening that any nuclear agreement would be rejected by Congress, “a clear attempt to undermine American diplomacy.”

In addition to Franken, seven Jewish lawmakers, three from the House representatives and four from the Senate, have come out in support of the nuclear agreement.

In March, Franken joined five other Jewish American lawmakers in skipping Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, organized by Republican leaders without informing the White House or congressional Democrats.

Franken’s absence from the speech was especially significant due to his close ties with the pro-Israel community.

“It’s unfortunate that Speaker Boehner’s actions [to invite Netanyahu without informing Obama or the Democrats] on the eve of a national election in Israel have made Tuesday’s event more political and less helpful for addressing the critical issue of nuclear nonproliferation and the safety of our most important ally in the Middle East,” he said at the time.

Congress began last month a 60-day review of the nuclear agreement, with a vote expected in September.

JTA and AP contributed to this report.