Republicans attack Obama's Iran nuclear deal as president warns them not to meddle

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Presidential hopefuls in the GOP lined up to condemn the bargain
Obama threatens to veto any act of Congress that prevents him from implementing it
US lawmakers will have 60 days to review it and vote up or down, and only a two-thirds majority can stop the president from canceling them out
Netanyahu insisted that Israel isn't bound to honor the terms of the deal with Tehran's mullahs, and his aides want him to go all-in to persuade US lawmakers to reject it
Most recent White House race entrant, Scott Walker, says no future president is obligated to maintain the deal since it's not a formal treaty

By David Martosko, Us Political Editor For Dailymail.com

Published: 17:16 EST, 14 July 2015 | Updated: 23:13 EST, 14 July 2015

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A chorus of pre-prepared and nearly instantaneous condemnations rang out from America's – and Israel's – right wing on Tuesday after President Barack Obama took his victory lap following a historic nuclear deal between Iran and a group of western nations including the United States.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister, castigated the White House for leading the world into 'a stunning historic mistake' by trusting the Islamic republic's leaders in Tehran to abide by the terms of Obama's legacy-building bargain.

His aides also said they will urge him to go all-in with a lobbying campaign to persuade members of the U.S. Congress to reject the deal in numbers large enough to override a promised Obama veto and put the U.S. president in his place.

Meanwhile Republican presidential candidates raced to pummel the administration for striking what they called a shortsighted and foolish deal that will backfire as a similar 1994 deal with North Korea did within ten years.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told NBC News that the nuclear agreement is 'a possible death sentence for Israel' and will 'make everything worse.'

'This is the most dangerous, irresponsible step I've ever seen in the history of watching the Mideast,' he said. 'Barack Obama and John Kerry have been dangerously naive about the Mideast in general. They've taken it to a new level and any senator who votes for this is voting for a nuclear arms race in the Mideast, voting to give the largest state sponsor of terrorism $18 billion.'

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEOS

'STUNNING HISTORIC MISTAKE': Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the Obama-led nuclear deal with the Islamic Republican of Iran on Tuesday, and now is expected to leverage his relationships in the U.S. Congress to kill it

GRAHAM-SLAM: 'This is the most dangerous, irresponsible step I've ever seen in the history of watching the Mideast,' said South Carolina Republcian Senator Lindsey Graham

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the most recent entrant into the White House race, said in a statement that no future president would be required to maintain the deal Obama struck, which is not a formal treaty between governments.

'I call on all congressional leaders and presidential candidates, including Secretary Clinton, to repudiate this agreement,' he said.

'Iran’s Supreme Leader should know that a future American president will not be bound by this diplomatic retreat.'

Donald Trump, the billionaire real estate tycoon in the GOP field, was more pointed and called the deal 'very dangerous.'

'Iran developing a nuclear weapon, either through uranium or nuclear fuel, and defying the world is still a very real possibility,' he said.

'Iran gets everything and loses nothing. ... This is a bad deal that sets a dangerous precedent. This deal sets off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, which is the most-unstable region in the world. It is a horrible and perhaps catastrophic event for Israel.'

'I guarantee,' Trump added, that Iran is 'much closer to producing a nuclear weapon than they were at the start of negotiations. The fact is, the U.S. has incompetent leaders and even more incompetent negotiators.'

Netanyahu: Israel is not bound by nuclear deal with Iran

VETO THREAT: President Barack Obama said early Tuesday morning that he would veto any congressional bill aimed at forbidding him from loosening sanctions on Iran as part of a nuclear deal

WE'RE NUMBER ONE: Secretary of State John Kerry was Obama's lead negotiator in Vienna as Iran won concessions from the West in exchange for a promise to slow down its nuclear ambitions

Rick Perry, a former Texas governor who is also in the 15-Republican primary field, called Obama's bargain 'one of the most destructive foreign policy decisions in my lifetime. For decades to come, the world will have to deal with the repercussions of this agreement, which will actually make it easier for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.'

He also hammered Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, saying she 'played a significant role in initiating these negotiations with Iran' and 'will have to justify to the American people why she supports allowing a known state sponsor of terrorism to move toward obtaining a nuclear weapon.'

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the Republicans' co-front-runner – he and Trump haev jockeyed for the lead in recent days – said the measure is 'dangerous, deeply flawed, and short sighted.'

'Over time it paves Iran’s path to a bomb,' he suggested. 'Most of the key restrictions last for only 10 to 15 years.'

Congress has 60 days to green-light or reject the agreement. A 'no' vote would mean the U.S. would not lift the economic and weapons sanctions whose withdrawal is key to Obama's bargain.

But the administration has rushed to press its case with the United Nations in the hope that the global body will rubber-stamp it before American lawmakers can intervene.

Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said a draft resolution will reach the Security Council 'in the coming days,' serving as an endorsement of the Iran nuclear deal.

Such a resolution is almost guaranteed to win swift approval, since all five of the council's permanent, veto-wielding member states – the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France – have reportedly agreed on the draft's text.

Congressional votes on Obama's deal won't take place happen until after the August recess.

John Kerry says Iran nuclear pact is 'a long time coming'

NO, WE'RE NUMBER ONE!: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is the big winner on Tuesday's landmark deal, earning his Islamic terror-sponsoring nation a cash windfall that criticis say Tehran will ue to promote more violence and push Israel to the brink

FLASHBACK: Netanyahu warned the United Nations in 2012 that Iran was close to finalizing a nuclear weapon

And Obama can issue a veto if Congress rejects the deal – provided opponents can't muster two-thirds majorities in both houses to override him. That outcome would require large numbers of Democrats to break with their party and their president.

In Israel, Netanyahu reacted within minutes of the announcement from Vienna that six world powers would life crippling economic and weapons sanctions in exchange for a promise of curbs on Iran's nuclear programme.

'Iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars, which will enable it to continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region and in the world,' the Israeli leader said in front of television cameras.

'Israel is not bound by this deal with Iran because Iran continues to seek our destruction. We will always defend ourselves.'

Iran does not recognise Israel's right to exist. Just days ago large crowds chanted 'Death to Israel' and 'Death to America' in the streets of Tehran, joined by President Hassan Rouhani.

Leaders in the Islamic republic have insisted that the Jewish state – which possesses what is presumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear platform – should be wiped off the map.

So Israel is preparing to take its case to Congress.

'Israel must focus and explain all of the holes in this agreement, which will just intensify terrorism and increase Middle East chaos,' Gilad Erdan, minister of public security and a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, told Israel's Army Radio.

'Hopefully the Congress and Senate will see the truth,' he said, according to a Reuters report.

Confidants of Netanyahu said he was as determined as ever to be heard in Washington.

'Why shouldn't we go all out in Congress?' one person close to Netanyahu told Reuters.

'Even if we don't garner all the votes we need, and even if Obama exercises a presidential veto to get the Iran deal ratified, it will still have symbolic value for us.'

Obama, meanwhile, warned Congress not to stand in his way.

NO: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said 'a future American president will not be bound by this diplomatic retreat'

NO NO: Former FLorida Gov. Jeb Bush (left) warned that Obama's deal 'paves Iran’s path to a bomb,' while billioniaire Donald Trump (right) declared that 'Iran gets everything and loses nothing'

'No deal means a greater chance of more war in the Middle East,' he claimed Tuesday morning during remarks at the White House.

'I am confident that this deal will meet the national security interest of the United States and our allies,' he said. 'So I will veto any legislation that prevents the successful implementation of this deal.'

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest predicted that the Obama administration will make its own case to Congress, especially to Democrats who might be wavering.

'We feel confident that when members of Congress are able – if members of Congress are able to set aside their own political, partisan identity and actually focus on the details of the agreement, that there’s a lot in here to like as it relates to advancing the interests of the United States,' Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One.

'Some' of Obama'd opponents, he conceded, are Democrats.

'But again, we’re going to make a case to them as well. And there will be additional conversations. I’m confident there will be extensive briefings on Capitol Hill.'

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, another of the GOP rivals who want Obama's job, said the president had 'glossed over the truth about Iran’s world-leading state-sponsorship of terrorism that is violently destabilizing the region, and would grow more deadly should the Iranians get a nuclear bomb.'

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, also in the 2016 race, said the deal 'threatens Israel, it threatens the United States, and it turns 70 years of nuclear policy on its head.'

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said the deal 'empowers an evil Iranian regime to carry out its threat to "wipe Israel off the map" and bring "death to America".'

'As president, I will stand with Israel and keep all options on the table, including military force, to topple the terrorist Iranian regime and defeat the evil forces of radical Islam.'

Obama spoke with Netanyahu over the telephone on Tuesday, in an attempt to reassure him that Iran's pledge to trim its nuclear sails is verifiable and sound.

The president told him that the plan 'will verifiably prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon while ensuring the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program going forward,' according to a readout of the call provided to reporters by the White House.

'The president also underscored his Administration's stalwart commitment to Israel's security,' and said the agreement 'will remove the specter of a nuclear-armed Iran.'

Obama also told Netanyahu 'that today's agreement on the nuclear issue will not diminish our concerns regarding Iran's support for terrorism and threats toward Israel,' the White House added.

But an Israeli government source told Reuters that Netanyahu's side of the conversation was pointed and diametrically opposed to Obama's.

Zarif and Mogherini formally announce Iran nuclear deal

YES: Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that she approves of the nuclear deal

Netanyahu, the source said, told Obama that the deal 'will afford Iran the ability to arm itself with nuclear weapons in 10-15 years' time, whether it keeps to the agreement, and beforehand if it breaks the deal.'

'Additionally, it will channel billions of dollars to the Iranian terror and war machine which threatens Israel and the entire world.'

Republican leaders not in the presidential race were also unanimously opposed to Obama's bargain.

'Instead of making the world less dangerous, this "deal" will only embolden Iran,' House Speaker John Boehner said Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the deal appeared to retain 'flawed' elements of the temporary framework that preceded it.

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News that he has 'great skepticism' about the deal.

'How a rogue nation like Iran can have a boot on its neck two years ago and now has been able to go from having its nuclear program dismantled to getting the gains it has gotten from six countries is hard to understand,' Corker said.

Corker has said throughout the negotiations that the administration “crossed red line after red li's committee has jurisdiction over the deal's review. THat authority was granted by legislation that he pushed across the finish line in May.

The Senate approved it 98-1.