--- title: Iran Nuclear Deal: 29 Scientists Write Letter in Support description: "This is an innovative agreement." canonical: https://time.com/3990001/29-scientists-obama-iran-nuclear-deal/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-09T18:25:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:58:13.372Z article:section: Politics og:title: 29 Scientists Publicly Support Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal og:description: "This is an innovative agreement, og:url: https://time.com/3990001/29-scientists-obama-iran-nuclear-deal/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447a813911298ac1/69885e7035ba6f736dc0e900/obama-iran1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Obama Speaks Iran Nuclear Deal og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 29 Scientists Publicly Support Obama's Iran Nuclear Deal twitter:description: "This is an innovative agreement, twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt447a813911298ac1/69885e7035ba6f736dc0e900/obama-iran1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 29 Leading Scientists Back Obama on Iran Nuclear Deal > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=5017a8c1-71a9-4a69-a670-89b262fb445a&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 2016 Candidates Speak Out On The Iran Deal [Watch (HLS stream): 2016 Candidates Speak Out On The Iran Deal](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/k9oXHx6b.m3u8) (3:00)  _Published 2015-07-15. 2016 Candidates Speak Out On The Iran Deal_  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 9, 2015 6:25 PM UTC  United States President Barack Obama addresses American University's School of International Service in Washington on Aug. 5, 2015. United States President Barack Obama addresses American University's School of International Service in Washington on Aug. 5, 2015. Pete Marovich—AP  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 9, 2015 6:25 PM UTC Twenty-nine of America’s leading scientists—from Nobel Prize winners to nuclear experts—co-signed a [letter](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/08/world/document-iranletteraug2015.html) supporting President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal on Saturday. “We consider that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) the United States and its partners negotiated with Iran will advance the cause of peace and security in the Middle East and can serve as a guidepost for future non-proliferation agreements,” the letter said. It went on: “This is an innovative agreement, with much more stringent constraints than any previously negotiated non-proliferation framework.” The support from the scientific community comes at a critical juncture for Obama, who is facing criticism not only from the Republican party, but from also from fellow Democrats. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D.—N.Y.), a leading Democrat in Congress published a piece on [_Medium_](https://medium.com/@SenSchumer/my-position-on-the-iran-deal-e976b2f13478) Thursday night explaining why he was against the Iran nuclear deal. The scientists’ letter addressed fears that the deal was weak and gave in to much to Iranian demands. “Concerns about clandestine activities in Iran are greatly mitigated by the dispute resolution mechanism built into the agreement,” the letter said. “The 24-day cap on any delay to access is unprecedented, and it will allow effective challenge inspection for the suspected activities of greatest concern.” ## Transcript Today, after two years of negotiations, the United States, together with our international partners, has achieved something that decades of animosity has not, a comprehensive long term deal With Iran, it will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. I think the president was on the right track at the very beginning when he said that the objective was to make sure that they didn't have the capability to build a nuclear bomb. Now we've legitimized Iran being a nuclear threshold county, and that in and of itself Creates huge instability in the reap. This is an important step in putting the lid on Iran's nuclear program. President's announcement yesterday is just another in the series of his lies. That when he said yesterday, that inspections will happen in Iran anytime, anywhere. The agreement itself undercuts the President's position. They are laughing at us back in Iran. And why didn't we get our prisoners back? Why doesn't somebody say, where are our prisoners? Nobody's even talking about it. We have four people in prison that shouldn't be. Why couldn't they make that part of the deal? Well, I think this is one of the biggest disasters of the Obama- Clinton doctrine out there. I mean, and as President, on my very first day going forward, I would pull back, I would terminate that bad deal with Iran completely on day one. I would then put in place crippling economic sanctions against Iran and I'd convince our allies to do the same. This is not a country we should be doing business [ CROSSTALK ]. Very promising, I have yet to read the 100 page agreement, but I believe, even have long believed, that a negotiated settlement is the best. Best path forward here, provided that it is verifiable, it's enforceable, we cut off all paths to Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon. So I think there's a lot of promise here, and hopefully it is the beginning of a new day. They're going to get eighteen billion dollars under this deal, what do you think they're going to do with the money? They're going to put it in their war machine. This is a death sentence for the state of Israel if this does not change, because you're ensuring the Ayatollah will get a nuclear weapon. He doesn't want a power plant. He wants a bomb. The Iranians came to the negotiating table, if you will, in a very weakened state. And they are gonna leave with billions, hundreds of billions of dollars. The ability to project terror which they are the chief sponsor of terror. We've legitimized- With that I applaud the President, Secretary Kerry for their efforts. In a very crazy and dangerous world to create an agreement with Iran which prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. This is a huge breakthrough. Obviously, the devil is in the details. All of us are going to study those details. But this is clearly a major step forward. The point is there's lots of reason to be suspicious here. There's lots of reason for Congress to really look at this and having, look I've never negotiated an Iranian nuclear deal, but I've negotiated a lot of high stakes deals and there are a couple rules, and every rule has been broken. 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