An American magazine has warned that imposing new sanctions by the US Congress on Iran could backfire and lead to the failure of the ongoing nuclear talks between Tehran and the major powers.
According to a commentary published on Friday on the National Interest which mainly focuses on US foreign policy issues, hardline Republican lawmakers in Congress are pushing for new anti-Iran sanctions as part of efforts to take advantage of a possible failure of the talks with Iran for partisan political gains. Despite the fact that "chief policymakers in each country clearly want to reach an agreement," hawks in Congress "realize that if the nuclear negotiations can be torpedoed, that would be a significant setback for the president they oppose."
As part of such a plot, "hardline opponents in the United States will be pushing a new version of sanctions legislation similar to what Senators Mark Kirk and Robert Menendez introduced in the previous Congress. The new version is still being written, but the previous version contained elements that might well have constituted a violation of the preliminary agreement, and if it had been enacted," it would have provoked a reaction from Iran, which could have included walking away from the negotiations.
The National Post concludes that under such a scenario, "Iranians of various stripes would see (imposition of new sanctions) as a major show of American bad faith. It would amplify the already considerable doubts in Tehran about true American intentions."
"In Iranian eyes it would make any further Iranian concessions less apt to bring desirable results, thus more risky politically for any Iranian leader to offer, and thus less likely to be offered. Consequently the negotiations would be more likely to fail. US officials conducting the negotiations know what, which is why they oppose the legislation. Those pushing the legislation know that, too, which is why they are pushing it."
