Iran nuclear deal: Can Senate 'swing Democrats' scuttle the agreement?

WASHINGTON — At about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Sen. Chris Coons’s cellphone went off. It was the vice president calling to go over the details of the Iran nuclear deal, agreed to just hours before in Vienna.

The two men talked for half an hour – both Democrats, both from Delaware, and both familiar with the details of Iran’s nuclear program, such as centrifuges and uranium enrichment (Senator Coons studied chemistry in college).

It was a useful conversation. Coons shared his concerns, and Vice President Joe Biden addressed them, filling in details that Coons was unaware of. In particular, Mr. Biden mentioned US sanctions against ballistic-missile technology and weapons exports to Iran that will remain in place, despite the deal’s lifting of other sanctions in exchange for blocking Iranian nuclear weapons capability.

Read the full article at The Christian Science Monitor.