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Saturday, 16 November 2013 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
In his most direct appeal yet for more time to pursue a diplomatic deal with Iran, Obama urged Congress to hold off on imposing any new sanctions despite concerns on Capitol Hill and among US allies Israel and Saudi Arabia that he is giving away too much.
Obama spoke a day after Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and other top US officials warned senators that implementing new sanctions could scuttle the delicate negotiations between Iran and six world powers due to resume in Geneva next Wednesday.
Some lawmakers said after Wednesday’s meetings they were not convinced, and there was no immediate sign that Obama, seeking better ties with Iran after more than three decades of estrangement, had won converts on Thursday either.
“If we’re serious about pursuing diplomacy, then there’s no need for us to add new sanctions on top of the sanctions that are already very effective, and that brought them (the Iranians) to the table in the first place,” Obama told a White House news conference.
“Now, if it turns out they can’t deliver, they can’t come to the table in a serious way and get this issue resolved, the sanctions can be ramped back up,” he said.
An initial agreement seemed close last week, when Kerry made an unexpected trip to the talks in Switzerland. But the negotiators failed to reach a deal and are returning for another round of talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Wednesday that a “bad deal” with Iran could lead to war. His aides challenged US assertions that Iran was being offered only limited relief from sanctions.
Underscoring the many obstacles, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel staunchly defended Obama’s approach. “I felt sorry for Secretary Kerry because so many people have jumped into this (saying), ‘Well he didn’t get anything and he didn’t get a deal.’ Wait a minute!” Hagel told a defence conference.
“We have political issues. Our partners have political issues,” he said. “So this is going to take time if we’re going to be able to move to somewhere onto a higher plane of possibility.”
At the White House, Obama sought to answer critics who accuse him of preparing to ease sanctions prematurely.
He said that in return for Iran’s agreement in a “phase-one” deal to halt its nuclear advances, “we would provide very modest relief at the margins of the sanctions that we’ve set up.”
“But importantly, we would leave in place the core sanctions that are most effective and have most impact on the Iranian economy, specifically oil sanctions and sanctions with respect to banks and financing,” he added.
Obama said that would give world powers a chance to test how serious Tehran is about negotiating a final deal to dispel Western suspicions that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon, something Tehran denies it is seeking.
“It also gives us an assurance that if it turns out six months from now that they’re not serious,” he said, “we can dial those sanctions right back up.”
