A Democratic senator who is crucial to the Obama administration's efforts to secure party support for backing the international accord with Iran says he favours it.
Sen. Tim Kaine, who made the announcement, is a former Democratic Party chairman and a member of the Foreign Relations and Armed Services Committees.
In a speech Tuesday on the Senate floor, Kaine says the deal takes Iran's nuclear program that was on the verge of success and disables it for many years through peaceful diplomatic means.
He said the pact reached by the United States, other powers and Tehran is a "dramatic improvement over the status quo" in boosting global security.
The Obama administration is making an all-out push to secure backing for the deal in the face of uniform Republican opposition.
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