In Illinois, Reaction To Iran Nuke Deal Falls Along Party Lines
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk is blasting a preliminary nuclear agreement between Iran, the U.S. and other world powers saying Iran will be allowed to "keep vast capabilities to make nuclear weapons."
Kirk is one of the most vocal U.S. senators pushing for tougher sanctions against Iran, aimed at curtailing the country's nuclear program.
In a statement Thursday he said the U.S. and its international partners will "dismantle the sanctions regime against Iran."
The deal announced Thursday between Iran and six other world powers outlines limits on Iran's nuclear program so it cannot lead to atomic weapons. Negotiators now have to take that deal and shape it into a final accord by the end of June.
The agreement announced Thursday says "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed."
President Barack Obama, a Democrat, praised the deal. He said when he took office Iran was operating thousands of centrifuges capable of producing materials for a nuclear bomb and was concealing a nuclear facility.
Like Kirk, fellow Illinois Republican Rep. Peter Roskam was not supportive.
"The United States and our partners will get, at best, minimal restrictions of Iran's nuclear program and more empty promises," Roskam said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat, said he's encouraged by the nuclear agreement.
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