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November 14, 2013

Obama Admin Asks Congress to Delay Iran Sanctions Vote 
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Secretary of State John Kerry appeared before Congress on Wednesday to
urge a delay of new sanctions on Iran. Lawmakers from both parties have
vowed to move ahead with a measure targeting Iranian oil exports,
despite the recent progress in talks between Iran, the United States and
five other world powers. Kerry said targeting Iran undermines
negotiations.

Secretary of State John Kerry: "Our hope now is that no new sanctions
are put in place for the simple reason that if they are, it could be
viewed as bad faith by the people we are negotiating with, it could
destroy the ability to be able to get an agreement and it could actually
wind up setting us back in a dialogue that has taken 30 years to be able
to achieve. We are asking the Congress to give the diplomacy they sought
a chance to be able to work."

The Iran nuclear talks are due to resume in Geneva next week. As Kerry
spoke, the Israeli government continued to lobby against what it called
a "bad deal" with Iran. Israel says the West is preparing to ease up to
40 percent of the sanctions, saving Iran up to $20 billion. According to
Reuters, Iran would be allowed to sell around $7 billion worth of oil,
chemicals and gold and also be allowed to import $12.5 billion in food,
medicine and other goods that are currently barred. Speaking to the
Israeli parliament, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened
the possibility of military attack if the Iran deal goes through,
saying: "I would go so far as to say that a bad deal could lead to the
second, undesired option."

 

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