On Tuesday, the 33rd United States Senator expressed his support for the Iran Nuclear deal. A 34th has suggested the deal will survive opposition. It's a key number, because Senate Republicans are attempting to block the deal, which will be submitted to Congress for approval. Even if a Congressional majority opposes the deal, President Obama can veto their disapproval and force the deal through. The only thing that could stop the deal from becoming official after a presidential veto would be a super majority (two thirds) vote of the Senate. With 34 senators now vocally supporting the deal it is mathematically impossible for the 100 member Senate to achieve the 67 votes against the deal for a super majority. The deal is going to happen; there's nothing Republicans can do to stop it. That's a good thing.
Even if you're the most fear-mongering, pro-war Republican, you should still support this deal. Senator Lindsey Graham and the rest of the "war is always the answer" Republicans would have you believe that a nuclear Iran would likely lead to global nuclear war as an Iranian strike on Israel unleashes a chain of bombings by the U.S. and other nations in response. If you actually believe this scenario, then I'm glad you've taken the time off from building your fallout shelter to read this article; the deal requires Iran to dismantle and disperse its current uranium stockpiles, which at present are large enough to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon in weeks.
The deal would prevent Iran from enriching weapons grade uranium for at least a decade if they keep up their end of the bargain. If the deal goes south and Iran reneges on their end of the bargain, it will take them the better part of a year to start the enrichment program from scratch with their stockpiles depleted and many of their centrifuges removed. Even in doomsayer's worst case scenarios, we've bought ourselves a precious few more months before the nuclear holocaust over what we'd have without the deal.
For those of us less persuaded by the "end of days" argument, the key part of this deal is the removal not of nuclear materials and technology, but of embargoes. Trade is the most effective way humans have found of preventing violence, and has been for centuries because individuals intuitively understand the repercussions of biting the hand that feeds (or the hand that buys food from you). The same is true of nations, which is why America is far more afraid of Russia (with whom we conduct little trade) than China (with whom we conduct a lot of trade), even though they are very similar in military strength. The "McPeace Theory" goes as far as to state that no two nations that both conduct enough international trade to have a McDonald's franchise will ever go to war, and is true all the way back to the 1950s when the restaurant was first founded (though the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict came close). Wherever goods and services cross borders, soldiers and bombs will not.
Contrary to what political war-hawks would have you believe, the Iranian people already approve of the United States more than almost any other Middle Eastern country (including long time allies like the United Arab Emirates). By beginning to lift the trade restrictions between our nations, this deal will allow us to further expand upon this relationship. I don't often support President Obama's foreign policy decisions, but I do support the Iranian nuclear deal because I think the best way to insure our nation's security is not with another expensive and drawn out Middle Eastern conflict but with nuclear oversight and McTrade, McProsperity and McPeace.