Senator Corker: Congress Will Continue Iran Sanctions Bill

According to the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican and Democratic representatives in Congress will continue their efforts to pass a bill aimed at imposing further sanctions against Iran. Bob Corker, the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, stated this to Reuters, saying, "Congress members are preparing a bill that would require any potential nuclear agreement with Tehran to be approved by Congress." Recently, Senator Corker expressed confidence that the Senate will play a more effective role in U.S. foreign policy next year, including regarding Iran. On the other hand, Republican Senator Mark Kirk and Democratic Senator Bob Menendez are finalizing a bill to impose stricter sanctions on Iran if a final agreement is not reached between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group by June 30, 2015 (July 9, 1394 in the Iranian calendar). According to Mr. Corker, who is also a member of the Senate Banking Committee, the Banking Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on Iran sanctions next Tuesday (January 20). The White House has emphasized that the approval of the new sanctions bill could cause Iran to withdraw from negotiations with the six world powers. Mark Kirk and Bob Menendez introduced the sanctions bill against Iran in December 2013, but it was not put to a vote in the Senate due to opposition from Democrats and the White House. Despite Republicans currently holding a majority in the Senate with 54 seats compared to 46 for Democrats, Corker stated that he is not sure he can secure the 67 votes needed in the Senate to overcome a potential veto of the sanctions bill by Obama. The Senate's continued efforts to pass new sanctions against Iran come as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Geneva to move towards a comprehensive nuclear agreement by July 9 next year. Previously, the White House issued a brief statement regarding a phone conversation on January 12 between Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that the U.S. President emphasized a comprehensive agreement that "would prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and would verifiably assure the international community of the entirely peaceful nature of its nuclear program." According to U.S. officials, the talks between John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif continued late into the night on Wednesday, January 14. In this context, one U.S. State Department official told Reuters that John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif "had important discussions today for five hours, covering various topics with a limited number of participants from both sides." These talks are a prelude to the resumption of negotiations between the seven countries (Iran and the six world powers) on January 17. In this regard, Obama's emphasis on efforts to reach a "comprehensive" nuclear agreement with Iran was noted, and Zarif described his meeting with John Kerry in Geneva as "important." The discussions between Zarif and Kerry continued late into the night on Wednesday.