U.S. Republican Senator Expects New Sanctions on Iran
There is sufficient support for expanded sanctions on Iran in the new Republican-controlled U.S. Congress to override veto threats by President Barack Obama, a senator told radio broadcaster NPR Wednesday.
The Obama administration and other global powers are in the midst of prolonged negotiations with Tehran to end a decade-long standoff over its nuclear activities, which the West sees as efforts to develop an atomic bomb.
The White House has sought to dissuade U.S. lawmakers from passing new sanctions against Tehran, warning such a move could scupper talks.
The powers have set a July 1 deadline for themselves to reach a full technical accord.
The White House wants any deal reached with Iran to be binding on its own, but several U.S. lawmakers have insisted any pact with Iran must go through Congress, not only Obama.
"I think we'll have a super-majority, a veto-proof majority, to impose additional sanctions on Iran and to require the administration to come before Congress for approval of any deal that he has with Iran," Senator Marco Rubio told National Public Radio in an interview to air Thursday.
Asked whether he would vote for additional sanctions even if it sank prospects for a nuclear deal, Rubio said: "Yes, because I don't believe there is the prospects for a deal with Iran."
Rubio and other lawmakers, including Senators Mark Kirk and Democrat Robert Menendez, along with House Foreign Affairs Committee head Ed Royce, say Obama should embrace new sanctions to tighten the economic vice on Iran and force concessions in the talks.
Menendez and Kirk introduced legislation that would see new sanctions imposed if a deal collapses or if Iran is seen as violating any final nuclear agreement.
Rubio said several of his colleagues support passing a bill that would require congressional approval of an agreement, and that "would trigger sanctions upon a failure of the deal at some point over the next six months."
Kirk said Sunday he believes the Iran sanctions issue will be one of the first priorities of the new Senate, which convenes January 6 under Republican control.
Meanwhile, the United States added nine individuals and entities to its Iran sanctions blacklist in a move condemned Wednesday by Tehran as a "blatant violation of goodwill" amid the long-running talks.
Source: Agence France Presse
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