Congressmen Charlie Dent, R-15th, and Matt Cartwright, D-17th, candidly shared their views on the Iran nuclear deal Aug. 25 during a forum hosted by the Jewish Community Center, Allentown.

The forum, which drew an audience of more than 200, was moderated by Martin Raffel, former senior vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and director of its task force on Israel, World Jewry and International Human Rights.

Dent said he is firmly opposed to the proposed nuclear deal. He told the audience his primary concern is that the accessibility of nuclear weapons will spread on a larger scale throughout the Middle East.

“I’m open to a strong agreement,” Dent said. “The fear is we’ll have a nuclearized Middle East, which I think is alarming.”

On July 12, the United States, led by President Barack Obama, along with Iran, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China accepted the nuclear deal.

The core of the agreement involves restrictions on the amount of nuclear fuel Iran can keep for the next 15 years.

Iran’s current stockpile of low enriched uranium will be reduced by 98 percent, according to the agreement. Also, the number of centrifuges in Iran would be reduced by two-thirds, pursuant to the deal.

Dent argued putting greater emphasis on sanctions will cause Iran to accept United States demands, as well as lead to a change in Iranian leadership.

“The harder we push them economically, the more likely we’ll see a regime change,” he said.

Cartwright said he has not made a final decision as to whether he will support or oppose the deal.

He said the United States must evaluate and place great weight on its close historical ties with Israel.

“You cannot consider this deal without looking at Israel,” he said.

Cartwright added a drawback to the deal is that it expires in 15 years, while a benefit of the proposed pact is it removes nuclear weapons.

“This agreement puts us in a better situation to monitor what’s going on in Iran,” Cartwright said.

Additionally, Cartwright noted anytime and anywhere inspections would have been ideal, but Iran would have never agreed to such a demand.

Raffel told the audience the nuclear deal has lead to a great deal of worry within the Jewish community.

He also said the possibility of Iran gaining greater access to nuclear weapons is troubling.

“It would be nothing less than a nightmare,” he said.

Raffel urged Congress to cast its vote on the deal based on the best interests of United States allies in the Middle East rather than politics.

Dent said he wants more clarification as to what the administration and government will guarantee to the Sunnis in the region.

Cartwright said he wants to know what the administration will do to prevent Iran from cheating on the agreement.

“I just see some rough waters ahead,” Dent said of the agreement. “My fear is this whole discussion is based on hope.

“This agreement should not be based on hope but trust.”

A cell phone poll was conducted at the end of the forum.

The poll revealed more than 50 percent of those in attendance were opposed to the proposed deal.