Power: Obama Administration Will Not Collaborate with Congress on Increasing Iran Sanctions

The U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations stated that Barack Obama seeks cooperation with Congress, which is under Republican control, on certain foreign policy issues but is unwilling to collaborate on imposing new sanctions against Tehran. Samantha Power said that the imposition of new penalties against Tehran would 'almost certainly' end the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the six world powers. Republicans, who gained control of both the House and Senate in the November elections, along with some Democratic representatives and senators, are looking to play a role in the comprehensive and final agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group and have repeatedly emphasized the need for increased sanctions to pressure Iran in recent months. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. representative at the UN stated on Monday, January 22, that any proposed bill (for new sanctions) would undermine existing sanctions by questioning international cooperation. She made these remarks at a meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, hosted by Senator Mitch McConnell, the new Republican majority leader in the Senate. Ms. Power identified the common areas of cooperation between the Obama administration and Republicans as 'the battle against Ebola,' 'the fight against terrorism,' and 'ending dictatorship in Burma.' She noted that two very important areas, 'Iran' and 'Cuba,' are points of contention between the parties. According to the U.S. Permanent Representative, any disruption in the Obama administration's strategy in these areas could regress U.S. foreign policy goals. Iran and the P5+1 group are set to resume their new round of negotiations on January 18 in Geneva, Switzerland, and according to Abbas Araqchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, 'before January 18, the Iranian nuclear negotiating team will hold bilateral meetings with the U.S. and Russian delegations.' John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State, expressed hope on Monday that progress would be made in the nuclear agreement process with Iran during his upcoming meeting with Mohammad Javad Zarif. According to the French news agency, Mr. Kerry, during his visit to India, said: 'We hope the upcoming negotiations will accelerate the progress of the talks.' The parties say that discussions will continue until July 1 to find solutions to resolve differences. However, some members of the U.S. Congress have expressed disappointment with the global powers' agreement with Iran and are calling for pressure on Tehran. Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator, said on December 10 to NPR that even if the agreement with Iran is jeopardized, he would vote for increasing sanctions against Iran because, in his view, 'I don't think an agreement with Iran will ultimately happen.' He stated that the bill to increase sanctions on Iran has enough support in the new U.S. Congress that Barack Obama, the President of the United States, would not be able to veto it. Bob Corker, a Republican senator from Tennessee, who was elected as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 7, also stated: 'Certainly, the Iranian parliament has a role in the nuclear negotiations, so we believe that the U.S. Congress should also be involved in this matter.' The West is concerned that Iran, under the guise of its nuclear activities, which it claims are 'peaceful,' is seeking to acquire knowledge for building nuclear weapons and is demanding necessary guarantees to distance Iran from this possibility. Tehran denies any attempts to build nuclear weapons.