Congressional Republicans Defend the Need for Intensified Sanctions Against Iran

Republican Senator Marco Rubio stated that the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran "will yield no results," emphasizing the necessity for harsher sanctions against Tehran. In an interview with CBS on Sunday, January 18, 2015, Rubio mentioned that the current sanctions are the only reason Iran is willing to negotiate. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham also stated in an NBC interview on Sunday that if the U.S. President allows Congress to vote on rejecting or approving any final nuclear agreement with Iran, he would be willing to temporarily suspend efforts to pass and implement further sanctions against Tehran. President Barack Obama, during a joint press conference with the British Prime Minister at the White House on Friday, reiterated that the approval of new sanctions would derail the nuclear negotiations with Iran and emphasized that he would veto any plan to intensify sanctions against Iran in Congress. John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House, responded to Obama's remarks by saying that the President's veto threat would not deter Congress from taking action, adding, "Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism with a deep record of human rights violations."