With Mikulski’s support, the deal to scale back the Iraniannuclear program in exchange for the removal of USA sanctionsis essentially final.

Rouhani himself has discouragedIran’sparliament from voting on the deal, saying that it would cause legal complications to implementing the deal. He said that Iran will only partially comply with its commitments if the sanctionsare merely suspended.

In Tehran on Thursday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said “there will be no deal” if world powers merely suspend economic sanctions rather than lifting them.

We must be ready to double down our efforts on the remaining 7 Senators to ensure we seal this deal without a veto.

But deal supporters had hoped to reach 41 Senate votes, enough touse the filibuster procedural rule to block a disapprovalresolution and keep Obama from having to use his veto power. One after another, lawmakers pointed to the warnings from foreign leaders that their own sanctions against Iranwould be lifted regardless of what the United States did.

The vote is set for September 17th.

“That includes clarifying that Congress retains the ability to pass sanctions legislation against Iran for their regime’s numerous other destabilizing activities, including support for terrorism“, he said.

Approval for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed in Vienna on 14 July now largely hinges on assessment from United Nations nuclear watchdog the worldwide Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA).

However, Abdi added that “work for the agreement’s supporters is not done”, noting that almost the entireRepublican presidential field has pledged to nullify the agreement if they take the White House, and that the opposition is still working on a “resolution of disapproval” that could “undermine and eventually unravel the deal”.Chuck Schumer (D-NY) was one of the two Democrats who opposed the deal, but he did not push his point of view. So far, 93 have announced their support while 77 House Democrats are undeclared. She lost a bid in 2000 to former GOP Gov. John Hoeven, who now is in the U.S. Senate. None has been more vocal than Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who for months has waged a campaign to drum up opposition.

The announcements from all three senators underscored how unsuccessful opponents have been in turning Democratic senators against the deal, despite tens of millions spent trying and fervent exhortations from the Israeli government, which fears an empowered Iran.

This article was written by  Shaun Bartel for Politico on Spet. 6, 2015.