Obama to compare Iran deal to Iraq War vote

Amid domestic criticism of the US-led nuclear deal with Iran - and a congressional vote on the issue looming - President Barack Obama will make a speech Wednesday at the American University in Washington in support of the deal.

Obama will make it clear that the same people who supported the Iraq war now oppose the diplomatic deal with Tehran and praise the virtues of US diplomacy.

White House insiders say that Obama's speech will prepare lawmakers for the vote on the Iran nuclear deal and say this is "the most consequential" decision they will make since Congress backed George W. Bush's war with Iraq in 2002.

Ghosts of the past

Obama has long argued that the Iraq vote represented a grave mistake that pushed the United States into eight blood-soaked years of unnecessary conflict.

"He will point out that the same people who supported war in Iraq are opposing diplomacy with Iran, and that it would be an historic mistake to squander this opportunity," the official said.

The backdrop for Obama's speech is meant to link the nuclear accord to a long tradition of US diplomacy, often conducted with unfriendly nations.

The president will speak at the same university where President John F. Kennedy made a famous call for Cold War diplomacy and nuclear disarmament.

His address also coincides with the anniversary of the nuclear test ban treaty, the landmark 1963 agreement Kennedy and leaders from the Soviet Union and Britain finalised shortly after the president's well-known speech.

White House Spokesman Josh Earnest said both the Cold War agreement and Obama's nuclear deal underscore "the effectiveness of principled, smart, tough diplomacy, even with our adversaries, to advance the national security interests of the United States".

Obama's address is part of an intense summer lobbying campaign by both supporters and opponents of the nuclear deal. Congressional lawmakers will vote next month on a resolution either approving or disapproving of the pact. 

Dissent

Some key Democratic lawmakers announced their support this week, including senators Tim Kaine of Virginia, Barbara Boxer of California and Bill Nelson of Florida.

However, the administration lost the backing of three prominent Jewish Democrats - Steve Israel, Nita Lowey and Ted Deutch.

Obama has presented the choice before lawmakers as one of war and peace. During a private meeting Tuesday with US-Jewish leaders, Obama said that if Congress blocks the deal, the only option he or the next president would have for stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is military action.

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is a vehement opponent of the nuclear agreement and called on Congress to block to deal. Gulf nations also fear the deal will strengthen Tehran.

To Obama, Kennedy's willingness to negotiate with the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War is a useful comparison for defending his engagement with Iran, a country long at odds with the U.S. and its allies, particularly Israel.

"This deal is also in line with a tradition of American leadership," Obama said as he announced the Iran accord last month. "It's now more than 50 years since President Kennedy stood before the American people and said, 'Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.'"

That line, from Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address, was echoed in his disarmament address at American University two years later. Speaking to graduates, Kennedy said, "No government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue."

Yet Earnest said that while Kennedy had to roll back components of the US nuclear program to strike a deal, Obama made no concessions to Iran that weaken U.S. national security.