“What we are asking for right now is a pause, a temporary pause in sanctions,” she told reporters. “We are not rolling them back.”
The House of Representatives has already passed a bill hardening up the sanctions, but the Senate agreed to delay further action to allow diplomacy a chance to succeed.
Both Republicans and Democrats have grown increasingly skeptical.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Robert Menendez said in a USA Today op-ed that new sanctions are a “necessary insurance policy” to ensure Iran negotiates in good faith.
“We cannot substitute wild eyed hope for clear eyed pragmatism given Iran’s record of deception,” he said.
And he branded it “incompatible” for Tehran to pursue talks while installing centrifuges and developing a heavy-water reactor.
“Tougher sanctions will serve as an incentive for Iran to verifiably dismantle its nuclear weapons program. When Iran complies, sanctions can be unwound and economic relief will follow,” he said.
An aide to Banking Committee chairman Tim Johnson said the senator “will not make a decision on additional sanctions until he has had a chance to consult with his colleagues following the briefing” by Kerry on Wednesday.
The committee’s top Republican, Senator Mike Crapo, has said he wants to “move ahead expeditiously” with a new sanctions regime.
“I don’t see how we should adjust our sanctions policy before there is any progress on the negotiation,” he told Politico last week.
Colin Kahl, director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, said Congress was warming to the idea that sanctions pressure got Iran to the negotiating table and “more pressure will get them over the goal line.”
But Kahl told reporters that “Congress should be mindful of doing things that would arm hardliners with the argument that the West isn’t serious” about engaging Iran diplomatically over its nuclear program.
Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, agreed, saying new sanctions could seriously limit Rouhani’s ability to maintain his “soft position” on the negotiations.
“The hardliners are waiting to destroy him,” Parsi said.
Negotiators “need to strike a deal before the Congress comes out and essentially closes the window of diplomacy.”
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