Infographic: Meet the Senate's Iran hawks
As the Senate prepares to vote on new legislation, Al-Monitor takes a deeper look at the motivations guiding those lawmakers most wary of negotiations
For most people paying attention to the nuclear negotiations with Iran, US lawmakers fall neatly into one of two categories: Either they're eager to give free rein to President Barack Obama's diplomats, or they're determined to toughen American demands — even at the risk of derailing talks.
Administration Skeptics
Robert Menendez
D-N.J.
Bob Corker
R-Tenn.
Defenders of Israel
Mark Kirk
R-Ill.
Chuck Schumer
D-N.Y.
Geostrategists
John McCain
R-Ariz.
Lindsey Graham
R-S.C.
War Veteran
Tom Cotton
R-Ark.
Iran Skeptic
Marco Rubio
R-Fla.
Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
Ranking member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Co-sponsor of a bill to give Congress a vote on a final deal and another to gradually impose sanctions if a deal hasn't been transmitted to Congress by July 6
"The more I hear from the administration ... the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran. And it feeds to the Iranian narrative of victimization when they are the ones with original sin - an illicit nuclear weapons program, going back over the course of 20 years, that they are unwilling to come clean on." Source
Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Author of legislation mandating an up-or-down vote on a final deal with Iran
