(Politico) Burgess Everett - Senate Democrats, led by Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), said Tuesday that they will give President Obama two months to reach a deal on the country's nuclear program before they vote for new sanctions. At least 10 Senate Democrats wrote the president Tuesday that they will not support final passage of a sanctions bill until March 24. That will allow the U.S. and other Western powers time to reach a framework for a deal scaling down Iran's nuclear program. In their letter, the Democrats defended the forthcoming sanctions legislation as "reasonable and pragmatic," given that the economic penalties would kick in only if negotiators fail to reach a final agreement by June 30. They added, "Considering Iran's history in nuclear negotiations and after two extensions of the Joint Plan of Action, we are concerned that Iran is intentionally extending the negotiations to improve its leverage at the negotiating table....[We] look forward to working with you to achieve our shared goal of reversing Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon capability."
2015-01-28 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive