Senate Democrats on Tuesday put the brakes on the move toward new sanctions against Iran, but warned the Obama administration they would resume supporting the move if the current round of talks does not achieve results.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said he and his colleagues wrote President Obama to say they would not back a draft sanctions bill until after March 24, the deadline international negotiators from Iran and the “P5+1” group — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — have set for a political framework agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear program. Negotiators hope to reach a final deal by June 30, the latest deadline for the expiration of an interim agreement.
But Menendez, co-author of the draft bill, said senators are “deeply skeptical” that Iran would accept the necessary conditions for an agreement lawmakers can live with.
“The fact is that negotiators are now in their 18th month of talking,” he said. “Iran is procrastinating because the longer the negotiations last, the further the P5+1 move in their direction.”
Menendez made his comments at a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on Iran sanctions. The committee had been set on Thursday to consider the draft legislation he co-wrote with Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill.
The move by Senate Democrats comes nearly two weeks after Obama publicly threatened to veto any new sanctions legislation, saying such a move would blow up the talks and make it more likely that Iran could obtain a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials have warned they could break off the talks if Congress imposes new conditions, which both Tehran and the White House view as a violation of the interim agreement.
But support for new sanctions remains strong enough in both chambers of Congress to overcome any possible veto in spite of the pause, and it appears the committee plans to go ahead with consideration of the draft legislation.
“Barring significant changes to the bill, I intend to vote for Kirk-Menendez on Thursday so a bill would be ready to go” if an agreement with Iran is not reached by March 24, said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., one of the Democrats who called for a pause.
According to a draft of the Kirk-Menendez bill, if no final deal is reached by the June 30 deadline, sanctions that had been waived as part of the interim deal would be reinstated on July 6 and additional sanctions would be imposed, starting with tighter restrictions on Iran’s access to markets for its oil, though Obama would have the power to waive those in the national interest.
The legislation would bar any new waivers of sanctions until Congress has the chance to review any final deal for 30 legislative days — about two to three months in real time.
