Wendy Sherman
Wendy ShermanReuters

The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Joe Biden’s nominee Wendy Sherman to be deputy Secretary of State, the number two position at the department, Reuters reported.

The Senate backed the nomination by 56-42, as a handful of Republicans voted in favor of the nomination.

Sherman, 71, a foreign policy veteran, ran into Republican resistance because she helped negotiate the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

While former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran agreement in May of 2018, Biden has taken a different approach and has expressed a desire to rejoin the deal.

Sherman took the lead in advocating for the Iran nuclear agreement with the Jewish and pro-Israel communities when it was agreed upon, later describing tensions with Israel and some American Jewish groups as “very, very painful.”

Sherman also played a role in hewing the Democratic Party platform to traditional pro-Israel lines.

She had promised a new approach on Iran at her March confirmation hearing, noting that the world has changed since the pact was implemented in 2016.

Dealings with Iran must “be decided on the merits of where we are today, not nostalgia for what might have been,” Sherman said, according to Reuters.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed Sherman’s confirmation on Tuesday.

“Congratulations to my good friend, Wendy Sherman, on her confirmation as our Deputy Secretary. We are all only as good as the team we surround ourselves with, and I’m thrilled to have you on board,” he tweeted.