by Israel Hayom Staff
The Obama administration is reportedly worried that Netanyahu's warnings on Iran will be translated into action by the legislative branch • Senators concerned administration will ease sanctions on Iran to facilitate talks.
U.S. Undersecretary of State
Wendy Sherman
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Photo credit: Reuters  |
The Obama administration is trying to push
back against a Congress-led effort to tighten sanctions on Iran, Foreign
Policy magazine reported on its blog on Wednesday.
The blog said that during a recent classified
briefing, Undersecretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman sought to
calm representatives who expressed concern about the administration's
willingness to hold talks with Iran on its nuclear program, the first
round of which concluded last week. According to the blog, lawmakers
"appeared mollified" by Sherman, who is the chief U.S. negotiator in the
talks.
Last week, several U.S. senators expressed
concern about the administration's willingness to consider an easing of
some sanctions as a means of facilitating the talks, especially after
negotiators praised Iran's supposed flexibility. Several Republican
senators said they would like to impose more sanctions on Iran. Senator
Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) even went so far as to draft a new resolution
against Iran, saying Iran could not be trusted.
"No one should be impressed by what Iran
appears to have brought to the table in Geneva," Rubio said. "Tehran has
broken its word far too many times to be trusted. Due to its complete
disregard for previous international agreements, we must take a firm
stand in all negotiations regarding the nuclear capabilities Iran is
permitted to retain."
Despite those comments, it appears that the
meeting with Sherman was productive. On the eve of the talks, Sherman
testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, telling
lawmakers that unilateral action on the part of Congress would not be
welcomed by the administration. "We do believe it would be helpful for
you to at least allow this meeting to happen on the 15th and 16th of
October before moving forward to consider these new sanctions," Sherman
said.
"All I know is that sanctions seem to be
working and that's a positive," Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), who is
the most senior Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence, told Foreign Policy after the meeting. "If they weren't
working, Iran would not be reaching out at this point."
"I appreciate the administration coming up and
briefing us on what's going on with the talks," House Majority Leader
Eric Cantor (R-Va.) told the magazine. "I fully support efforts at
applying pressure and making sure there is a viable military threat so
that perhaps a diplomatic resolution can occur ... I remain concerned
about the threat of Iran's actions in terms of pursuing its goal of
nuclear capability and will remain involved in oversight of that issue."
Foreign Policy adds that the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee has also been in contact with lawmakers, saying
Iran must not be allowed to enrich uranium. "The Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) does not speak about the right of
enrichment," Foreign Policy quotes an AIPAC memo that was sent to
Congress. "Even if there were such a right, Iran's extensive
decades-long violations of the NPT would have negated it."
Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=12827
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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