President Barack Obama's administration sent a nuclear agreement with Tehran to Congress on July 19 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged US lawmakers to reject a deal he said would only feed an "Iranian terror machine".
In a first concrete sign of European determination to quickly rebuild economic and political ties with Iran after a 12-year standoff, German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel arrived in Tehran with an economic delegation. Other European powers were expected to follow.
Obama has promised to exercise his veto if Congress rejects the deal, which curbs Iran's nuclear program while allowing an easing of economic sanctions.
Overriding it would require a two-thirds majority of both the House of Representatives and Senate, so the administration is working to win over enough of Obama's fellow Democrats to offset strong Republican opposition.
"I think the right thing to do is merely not to go ahead with this deal," Netanyahu said on CBS's "Face the Nation" as he continued a string of US media interviews denouncing the deal reached between Iran and six major powers.
"There are many things to be done to stop Iran's aggression and this deal is not one of them," he said.
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter, arriving in Israel on the first visit by a US cabinet official since the agreement, told reporters on his aircraft: "I'm not going to change anybody's mind in Israel. That's not the purpose of my trip.
Carter is also touring Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which both eye the prospect of increasing Iranian influence in the region with some suspicion.
