November 13, 2013 | Quote

Dems Pummel Administration on Iran

At the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Iran today, Democrats joined Republicans in insisting the Senate move ahead on banking sanctions previously passed. And, as sanctions expert Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies told me this afternoon, there was “deep Democratic skepticism” about the Obama administration’s approach in Geneva. Eliot Engel, the ranking member, made a forceful opening statement in which he told his colleagues:

Dubowitz testified, “But for the 11th hour French intervention over the weekend, the new Iranian president would have scored a significant victory at Geneva. The U.S. administration seemed ready to give tens of billions of dollars in irreversible sanctions relief, in addition to the unilateral sanctions relief by blocking new Congressional sanctions, in exchange for the promise of reversible nuclear concessions that do not roll back or freeze enough of the critical elements of Iran’s military-nuclear infrastructure.” He was blunt, “Geneva negotiations will resume on November 21. There is no indication that the Obama administration will enhance its negotiation leverage by ending its opposition to new congressional sanctions. Such an approach will likely lead to the eventual nuclearization of Iran.”

Read the full article here.

Issues:

Iran Iran Sanctions