WASHINGTON — Sen. Charles Schumer blasted the Iran nuclear deal as “fatally flawed” Tuesday, saying he doesn’t trust European nations to conduct thorough inspections of the sensitive facilities.
In his most extensive comments since announcing his opposition to the agreement last week, Schumer questioned whether the inspections could be effective, and laid out a litany of reasons why he thinks the deal won’t hold.
“There are parts to bomb making that don’t involve nuclear isotopes. Even if you find nuclear isotopes [through inspections], you don’t know exactly what they are doing,” he said.
“You know, the Europeans, once they have these economic relationships with Iran — which we know they are very eager to have — are going to be reluctant to ask for an inspection, so I was troubled by that,” Schumer said after a speech at NYU.
Schumer — the presumptive next Senate Democratic leader and the only declared Democratic opponent to the deal in the Senate — also labeled the “snapback” provisions meant to restore sanctions if Iran cheats “complicated and awkward.”
Schumer nevertheless called his opposition, reached after high-pressure lobbying on both sides, “one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make.”
Schumer, a key power player, has said he’ll try to persuade his colleagues to join him in opposition.
But he hasn’t done much publicly since releasing a statement right at the start of last Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate in Cleveland.
His efforts are being saluted with a huge digital billboard in Times Square.
A new Quinnipiac University poll shows Schumer is on the same side as his constituents — 43 percent of New York City voters oppose the Iran deal, while 36 percent support it.
Among Jewish New Yorkers, 53 percent oppose the deal, compared to 33 percent who favor it.
Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking at a Reuters event in New York, hit back at Schumer’s argument on his own turf — in particular the idea that it was possible to get a better deal.
“Are you kidding me?” Kerry asked. “The United States is going to start sanctioning our allies and their banks and their businesses because we walked away from a deal? And we’re going to force them to do what we want them to do, even though they agreed to the deal we came to?” he continued.
Kerry warned that as a consequence, the US and Israel would have no support for military action against Iran. He even said the dollar would lose its status as the world’s reserve currency.