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Senate holds off on new Iran sanctions

US President Barack Obama’s meeting with congressional leaders offers a reprieve from the Senate moving ahead with sanctions legislation on Iran, at least until December.
US Senator Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, talks with reporters at the White House after a meeting on Iran with President Obama in Washington, DC, November 19, 2013. US President Barack Obama met with key Senate committee chairpersons and ranking members about Iran, urging them to hold off on more sanctions against the regime in Tehran over its nuclear program.    AFP PHOTO / Jim WATSON        (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Facing skepticism, if not outright opposition, to an emerging nuclear deal with Iran from the Israeli government and many members of the US Congress, the Barack Obama administration will resume talks tomorrow, Nov. 20, in Geneva without the added complication of imminent new US sanctions.

Senators emerging from a meeting with President Obama on Tuesday said no Iran sanctions would be attached this week to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a must-pass annual bill that funds the US military. “The president has asked for some time for this to be negotiated and see if Iran will live up to the obligations,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters. (See updated statement from Corker at bottom of story)

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