WASHINGTON – In an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” today, U.S. Senator Bob Corker, R-Tenn., ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, raised concerns about the Obama administration potentially “dealing away” U.S. leverage in negotiations with Iran by prematurely lifting sanctions as part of a partial agreement that does not halt Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon.
“The [U.N.] security council resolutions call for a complete stoppage [of Iran’s enrichment activities]…so you can imagine that Congress -- that put these sanctions in place with the administration kicking and screaming all the way, pushing back against these sanctions -- [is] very concerned that we’re going to deal away the leverage that we have where we finally have Iran willing to sit down and talk about these issues,” said Corker.
“A partial agreement leads us down the same path we went down with North Korea, where just to get people to act right…you continue to reduce sanctions. So, again, a lot of concerns about the approach. A lot of us want to see it resolved diplomatically. We know the sanctions got us here, and we’re worried we’re dealing away our leverage.”
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