Returning Congress gives Iran a pass — for now
Key lawmakers kept an open mind on a potential extension of nuclear talks with Iran on their first day back after midterm elections.
Key US lawmakers are adopting a wait-and-see approach to new sanctions on Iran, buoying nuclear deal advocates' hopes that the nuclear talks may yet survive the Republicans' midterm victory.
In a joint Nov. 12 statement, the bipartisan architects of pending sanctions legislation indicated that they would wait to see what a "potential deal" looks like before acting. In addition, the chairman-in-waiting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., appears open to a further extension of the talks past the Nov. 24 deadline, as seems increasingly likely.
"Why don't we wait until the 24th to start talking about alternatives," Corker told Al-Monitor and a handful of other reporters Nov. 12. "Let's see what actually occurs over the course of the next couple weeks."
"If there's no extension and no deal, absolutely you would want to add sanctions. [But] I would find it difficult to believe at this moment that there will just be a walkaway from the table on the 24th. My sense is that there will be either an extension or a deal, and if that's the case, we can weigh what that extension says," Corker stated. "Always, I want to see what a document says [before acting]."
