US SENATE TO THWART IRAN DEAL

         Washington, 6 Muharam 1435/10 November 2013 (MINA) – The US Senate Foreign Relations ranking member Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warned this week that he may introduce legislation making it harder for President Barack Obama to ease the existing sanctions. 

        “We’ve crafted an amendment to freeze the administration in and make it so they are unable to reduce the sanctions unless certain things occur,” he said, Press tv reported  as quoted by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA). 

        Corker’s plan could complicate the administration’s efforts to use incremental measures, including some sanctions relief for Iran, as a means of continuing the nuclear talks into next year. 

         Several other lawmakers have vowed to impose even more sanctions against Iran.

         The US lawmakers’ objection to a diplomatic deal was further reinforced after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the proposal as a “very, very bad deal” on Friday ahead of a meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry. 

          “Given Netanyahu’s outburst,” former Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told Global Post, “we will now likely have a major debate between some in Congress and the administration over Iran at a time when national unity and supporting the president would be the far more effective and desirable alternative.” 

        The White House offered to relax some of the sanctions as Iran and six major world powers started a new round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear energy program in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday. The closed-door talks concluded early on Sunday. 

        President Obama has tried to reassure members of Congress that he only seeks to provide a “very modest relief” to Iran and that the current sanctions structure would remain in place as the nuclear talks unfold. 

        The deal being contemplated in Geneva would unfreeze several billion dollars in Iranian assets abroad if Iran agrees to severely restrict several aspects of its nuclear energy program. 

       Skeptical lawmakers in the US Congress are stepping up efforts to thwart a possible diplomatic deal with Iran over its nuclear program amid signs that the Obama administration might ease economic pressure against Tehran.

        “The United States should negotiate from a position of strength, not weakness,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a possible 2016 presidential contender, said in a statement Friday, The Hill reports. 

       “If the reports are correct, this is a terrible deal, and it is dangerous for America.” 

       Meanwhile, the Senate Banking Committee has indicated that it will move ahead with a new round of sanctions against Iran after the negotiating session ends in Geneva. 

       Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), chairman of the Senate committee, said that Harry Reid, the leader of Senate Democrats, had asked him to go ahead with the consideration of the bill. (T/P04/P03)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)