Key negotiator: Congress blocking Iran deal ‘keeps me up at night’

One of the Obama administration’s top negotiators on the Iran nuclear deal says that congressional opposition to the deal is what worries him the most.

“If this agreement is undermined by the Congress, the discussion about the day after is not very pretty,” Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in remarks at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on Friday. “So to be honest, I think that’s really what keeps me up at night.”

{mosads}Moniz repeatedly warned about the dire consequences of congressional opposition to the deal, which he said would only empower Iran by making it appear like a reasonable actor and make the U.S. seem irresponsible.

“We will be presumably quite isolated and it’s already been made clear that there will not be a renegotiation” of the deal, Moniz warned. “Frankly, it puts Iran in a greater position of strength as one that has come to the table and negotiated an agreement.”

The energy secretary’s comments came mere hours after the Obama administration’s lobbying push was dealt a pair of stinging blows on Capitol Hill.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) — who is the heir apparent to the Senate Democratic leader and the subject of intense scrutiny on Iran — shocked analysts by announcing that he would oppose the deal, becoming the first Senate Democrat to take the stance.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) — the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee — added to the insult by similarly announcing his opposition to the deal later on Thursday.

Moniz did not address either defection during his Friday-morning remarks, but made clear that the Obama administration was dead set on seeing the deal enacted.

He did, however, address concerns that the deal ignored Iran’s behavior unrelated to its nuclear program, such as the financing of extremist groups in Yemen and Israel. That component, Schumer said in his Thursday-evening statement, gave him “the most pause” about the pact.

“We should remember that whatever view we have of the reasons for the sanctions — such as punishment for a broader set of activities, let’s say — the international community and the U.N. sanctions were very clearly put in place with the explicit purpose of negotiating,” Moniz said. “And that’s been done.”