Big money and ads clash over Iran nuclear deal

As the Senate opens a two-month congressional review of the nuclear agreement with Iran on Thursday, opponents of the deal are spending tens of millions of dollars to rally the American public and U.S. lawmakers against it.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran, United Against a Nuclear Iran and the Republican Jewish Coalition are among groups that will spend between $20 million and $40 million to blast the deal with TV commercials that began airing last Friday, social media ads and new websites that include alleged flaws in the agreement and contact information for members of Congress.

The opponents' effort dwarfs that of supporters. The liberal Jewish group J Street has raised $2 million to promote the deal, said spokesman Alan Elsner. Other liberal groups, such as MoveOn.org, are also mobilizing supporters in favor of the deal, though it's unclear how much money they've raised. And President Obama is using the White House bully pulpit to make his pitch to the American people in support of the accord, which limits Iran's nuclear program for 15 years in return for lifting economic sanctions.

Obama is sending three members of his Cabinet — Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew — to defend the deal at Thursday's hearing. Republicans, who hold a majority in the Senate, have been vocal critics of the accord, saying it doesn't provide ironclad guarantees that Iran won't build a nuclear weapon secretly.

Obama has said he will veto any measure to derail the accord, meaning opponents would need two-thirds majorities in the Senate and House to prevail. He sent Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to Jerusalem this week to pledge U.S. security assistance to Israeli leaders, who are strident opponents of the deal.

On Monday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution approving the agreement, which was reached July 14 between Iran and the five permanent members of the Security Council — the U.S., Britain, China, France and Russia — plus Germany.

Security Council approval does not pre-empt a congressional rebuke, said Patrick Dorton, a spokesman for one of the opponents, Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran. "There's no question that past U.S.-led (economic) pressure is what brought that country to the negotiating table," he said. "And in our view, there's no question that increasing that pressure could potentially improve any agreement with Iran."

Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran tells visitors to its website to "Stop a Dangerous Nuclear Deal with Iran" and to "urge Congress to demand a better one."

The agreement has serious flaws, Dorton said. He cited the 24-day delay Iran can employ if international inspectors want to visit a site where they suspect nuclear activity, access to more than $100 billion in soon-to-be released frozen cash that Iran may direct to terrorist groups it supports, and greater power it will give Iran's regime to repress its people.

"This is a weak deal, and it's better to have no deal or lay the groundwork for a better deal," Dorton said.

AIPAC, one of Washington's most powerful lobbying groups, said it is launching a two-week blitz of meetings with lawmakers in their home states.

The Republican Jewish Coalition is "spending heavily" on social media ads to persuade lawmakers to reject the deal with a veto-proof majority, said Mark McNulty, the group's communications director.

J Street's Elsner said his group can't compete in fundraising, "but we can work to make sure the authentic Jewish community, which we believe is supportive of this deal, is heard." J Street is running ads on cable channels during Sunday talk shows and it is bringing Israeli security experts to Washington to promote the agreement to members of Congress, he said.

While the agreement is imperfect, it blocks Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state, Elsner said. If the deal collapses, the international coalition behind sanctions will collapse, too, and Iran will be free to keep its stockpiles of nuclear fuel and all of its nuclear equipment and facilities with no dismantling at all, he said. "We think everyone benefits from that. It's the best deal that could be achieved. It's the only deal that's on the table. It's the only game in town."