Rubio playing off Iran deal to please Jewish voters: US journalist

US Republican Senator Marco Rubio is playing off Iran nuclear understanding in order to please a large Jewish population in his home state of Florida, American investigative journalist Wayne Madsen says.

Republican senators are proposing amendments to legislation giving Congress a vote on a nuclear agreement with Iran, with Senator Rubio attempting to tie Israel to the controversial bill.

Rubio, the first-term senator from Florida, is reportedly pushing for an amendment that would make “recognition of Israel” part of the legislation, sponsored by Senators Bob Corker and Robert Menendez. Under Rubio’s proposal, Iran would have to publicly recognize the Israeli regime.

Madsen said Republican interference in nuclear negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran is a “violation of the Constitution. The president has the responsibility to carry out the foreign policy.”

“The Senate has shown itself to be totally irresponsible. First of all, sending a letter to the Iranian government, signed by 47 senators; the House was irresponsible for inviting Israel’s Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress,” he added.

“And now we have these senators, including Marco Rubio, who is going to announce his candidacy for the presidency on Monday, trying to interfere with the conduct of US foreign policy by the executive branch,” he noted.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a final nuclear agreement with Iran must include a "clear and unambiguous Iranian recognition of Israel's right to exist."

US President Barack Obama, however, said on Monday that recognition of Israel cannot be a part of the nuclear agreement with Iran.

Madsen said that “Rubio is obviously catering to a large Jewish population in his home state of Florida which is centered around the three most populous condominium communities.”

“He feels he can win the presidency of the United States with those Jewish votes, I suppose, along with his rightwing Cuban friends down in Miami Bay,” he observed.

“But I think people are going to see through Rubio. He is not ready for prime time. He never has been. He will generate a little bit interests. But he is obviously trying to play off this P5+1 agreement with Iran, just as Lindsey Graham is also trying to stall this agreement because he is also running for president. Other presidential candidates will do the same,” the veteran journalist noted.

Iran and the P5+1 group – the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany – along with officials from the European Union reached a mutual understanding on Tehran’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2.

The two sides will now start drafting a final accord, dubbed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which is expected to come by the end of June.

If a final deal is reached, it would lift all international sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic in exchange for certain steps Tehran will take with regard to its nuclear program.

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