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State Dept. Urges Congress to Delay New Iran Sanctions

(Los Angeles Times) Paul Richter - Wendy Sherman, the State Department's third-ranking official, urged senators Thursday to delay tough new Iran sanctions legislation until after upcoming negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, for fear of undermining the talks. "We do believe it would be helpful for you to at least allow this meeting to happen on the 15th and 16th of October before moving forward to consider these new sanctions," Sherman, the Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She said the administration doesn't necessarily object to new sanctions, and would be willing to work with Congress after the meeting to determine what kind of sanctions might build additional pressure on Iran. Administration officials have been happy to use the threat of sanctions to try to build pressure on Iran to agree to a nuclear deal. A House bill that was passed in July and is now pending in the Senate would cut Iran's oil exports almost to zero. "The fundamental large sanctions that we have in place should not disappear anytime soon, unless all of our concerns are addressed by the Iranians," Sherman said, adding: "we know that deception is part of the [Iranian leadership's] DNA."
2013-10-04 00:00:00
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