KERRY: US MUST PURSUE NUCLEAR TALKS WITH IRAN

Washington, 28 Rabiul Akhir 1435 / 28 February 2014 (MINA) – As Republican lawmakers are pushing for the revival of a sanctions bill against Iran, US Secretary of State John Kerry says the US must pursue negotiations with Iran instead of taking any action that could lead to war.

“That is an obligation we have as leaders to exhaust all the remedies available to you before you ask people to give up their lives and that is what we are doing,” Kerry told a group of reporters on Wednesday.

The US top diplomat made the remarks after Republican senators tried to get a vote on new sanctions against Iran as part of unrelated bills on two occasions this week, Press TV quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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On Monday, Republican Senator Jerry Moran blocked a vote on two military sexual assault bills, saying an amendment on sanctions against Iran should be added to the legislation.

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) also said that the anti-Iran sanctions, which were authored by Senators Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) and Mark Kirk (R-Illinois), should be included in Republicans’ alternative to military veterans bill offered by independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

“I happen to believe as a matter of leadership, and I learnt this pretty hard from Vietnam, before you send young people to war you ought to find out if there is a better alternative,” Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran, said on Wednesday.

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Kerry’s remarks echo those made by the White House’s National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan who said in January that the US lawmakers who are pushing for new sanctions against Iran want a war with the country and “should be up front with the American public and say so.”

A new study published by The Iran Project also shows that new sanctions against Iran sought by hawkish senators on Capitol Hill would undermine the ongoing negotiations over Iran’s nuclear energy program and “would increase the probability of war.”

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States — plus Germany signed an interim nuclear agreement in Geneva, Switzerland, last November. The deal is aimed at setting the stage for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old standoff with Tehran over its nuclear energy program.

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Iran and the P5+1 group continued their talks in the Austrian capital Vienna last week in order to reach a final agreement. According to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the talks concluded on February 20 with “an agreement on the framework and plan of action for the comprehensive nuclear talks”. (T/E01/IR)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)