According to a VNA correspondent in Washington, on July 23, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee held its first hearing on the nuclear deal that the P5+1 group (including the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) reached last week with Iran.

US Senate. (Source: AP)

Attending the hearing were US Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

Speaking at the hearing, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Ben Cardin, expressed skepticism about the agreement and said he had not decided whether to vote for or against the document. However, Mr. Cardin also said he felt that US negotiators had made significant progress in the negotiations with Tehran.

Meanwhile, Secretary Kerry reaffirmed that the Obama administration has made it clear that it will not accept “any bad deal.” He stressed that the agreement would block any path Iran could take to acquire fissile material for nuclear weapons, while allaying international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.

This hearing marks the first time that US Cabinet officials have appeared before Congress since the P5+1 and Iran reached an agreement in Vienna on July 14.

According to the Iran Nuclear Deal Review Act passed last May, the US Congress will have 2 months to evaluate this document to decide whether to ratify it or not before September 17./.

(According to AP, VNA/ VN+)