International

Kerry to urge Congress to delay additional Iran sanctions

Secretary of State optimistic about nuclear deal, but administration efforts could be complicated by skeptical Congress

John Kerry is pictured here with the Iranian Foreign Minister in Geneva during talks held over the weeknd.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters

U.S. lawmakers will wait for a briefing by Secretary of State John Kerry this week before deciding whether to impose tough new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, Senate aides said Monday.

The Obama administration – fearing that any new measures could damage the diplomatic progress it has made with Iran – hopes to prevent further punitive congressional measures while negotiations between Tehran and six world powers continue in Geneva.

Kerry was set to brief the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday, when he will try to persuade the committee members to delay a decision on new sanctions. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., the committee's chairman, will not make a decision on how to proceed until after that closed-door meeting, a committee aide told Reuters.

But many lawmakers are skeptical, calling for tighter sanctions despite the White House's objections.

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Adding to pressure for congressional action on new sanctions are lobbyists including the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which has long advocated large-scale sanctions on Iran.

The domestic legislative push against rapprochement between Iran and world powers echoes the line taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has publicly expressed deep skepticism about nuclear talks and recently said the current negotiating framework could produce "the deal of the century” for Iran.

But the Obama administration continues to press for a freeze on new sanctions as it negotiates.

"It is our feeling that additional sanctions right now will have the potential to derail the diplomatic agreement and would give Iran the opportunity to actually achieve sanctions relief by dividing the international coalition," a senior administration official said, in a possible preview of the message Kerry will deliver to lawmakers.

Sanctions imposed last year by the United States and European Union have combined to slash Iran's oil exports by roughly 1 million barrels a day, depriving Tehran of billions of dollars of income and driving up inflation and unemployment.

A deal – almost

The so-called P5+1 countries – the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany – came close to a preliminary nuclear agreement with Iran over the weekend during the talks in Geneva, and decided to resume negotiations on Nov. 20 in their attempt to reach a compromise over Iran’s nuclear energy program. Many in the international community fear the program could lead to eventual nuclear weapons, but Iran says it is solely for its civilian energy needs.

With a breakthrough in Geneva tantalizingly close, divisions over the issue within the major world powers emerged when France declined to endorse the proposal, believing it did not do enough to neutralize the risk of an Iranian nuclear bomb.

Some diplomats accused France of grandstanding during the weekend talks. But Kerry denied reports of rifts among the powers, and suggested Iran was not ready to accept the plan at that point.

The powers were "unified on Saturday when we presented a proposal to the Iranians, and the French signed off on it, we signed off on it, and everybody agreed it was a fair proposal," Kerry said. "There was unity, but Iran couldn't take it at that particular moment – they weren't able to accept that particular thing."

Iranian officials, including its foreign minister Javad Zarid, took issue with this narrative.

IAEA agreement

Despite the failures over the weekend, however, there was a diplomatic achievement Monday. In a deal aimed at improving transparency in Iran's nuclear program, Tehran will grant U.N. inspectors "managed access" to a uranium mine and a heavy water plant within three months.

Under the technical accord signed by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano in Tehran, Iran will also provide information about planned new research reactors and sites for future nuclear power plants, and will clarify earlier statements about additional uranium enrichment facilities.

The IAEA and Iran have agreed "to strengthen their cooperation and dialogue aimed at ensuring the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program," a joint statement distributed in Vienna said.

Al Jazeera and Reuters

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