Obama will win Iran nuclear agreement in Congress

US President Barack Obama has “a great likelihood of success” to win the face-off with the Republican majority in Congress over the recent nuclear agreement with Iran, says GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell.

Obama has pledged to veto a possible turndown of the accord and the congressional opponents will need a two-thirds majority to override the US president.

“He can win by getting one-third plus one of either house, so he has still got a great likelihood of success,” the Kentucky senator told a business group on Monday.

McConnell added that Obama’s campaign to get the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) approved “will be entirely among Democrats, probably Democrats in very safe Democratic seats,” who according to McConnell have no fear of re-election.

Later in the day, he told reporters that although all odds are in Obama’s favor, he still hopes for the GOP-led Congress to defeat the president’s plan.

McConnell went on to criticize the JCPOA, claiming that it is a “very flawed deal” in several areas.

“It leaves the Iranians with threshold nuclear capability,” he maintained.

The Republicans have been firmly opposing the agreement with Iran, addressing it as a security threat for both the US and Israel.

In an interesting turn of events, some of the House Democrats have also defected on Obama and voiced their opposition to the deal with Sen. Charles Schumer of New York being the most notable one.

Schumer, who is known as the third important Democratic senator, publicly announced that he would vote against the conclusion of nuclear talks reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries –  the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany.

Representative Eliot Engel, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, also followed suite later, declaring that he would join Obama’s rivals to oppose the accord.

Obama’s efforts to build a bipartisan support for the agreement were also thwarted a few days ago when Jeff Flake, the only undecided Republican senator, announced his decision to oppose it.

The JCPOA is undergoing scrutiny by Congress that will vote on it next month.