Is US Congress on Verge of Sabotaging Iran Nuclear Deal?

Despite repeated warnings that such a move could scuttle the hopes for a comprehensive and more permanent agreement on Iran’s domestic nuclear program, U.S. senators are preparing the introduction of legislation that would impose tougher new sanctions if the interim deal reached last month in Geneva doesn’t meet a six-month deadline for progress.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, however, has said that the imposition of new sanctions—even those set out in the future—would most definitely set ongoing negotiations back and could possibly sabotage them all together.

“The entire deal is dead,” Zarif told TIME magazine in an interview earlier this week, responding to a question about the impact of such a move by Congress.

“We do not like to negotiate under duress,” Zarif said. “If Congress adopts sanctions, it shows lack of seriousness and lack of a desire to achieve a resolution on the part of the United States.”

“I know the domestic complications and various issues inside the United States, but for me that is no justification,” he continued. “I have a parliament. My parliament can also adopt various legislation that can go into effect if negotiations fail. But if we start doing that, I don’t think that we will be getting anywhere.”

Leading the charge for new sanctions are Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois). Both lawmakers have strong ties to the pro-Israeli lobbyist groups in Washington and have been expressly hawkish when it comes to Iran and have shown little accommodation when it comes to welcoming the possibility of a peaceful deal with Tehran.

On Wednesday, the entire Senate listened to a briefing by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary John Kerry who told members that the new restrictions on Iranian oil exports and banking would seriously jeopardize what many have called the “historic” diplomatic progress made in recent months.

According to Reuters, however, the “session seemed to have done little to change lawmakers’ minds.”

Earlier in the week, the House Foreign Relations Committee also heard testimony from Kerry, but voiced little support for the ongoing diplomatic pathway generated by November’s interim agreement.

As the Washington Post reported:

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