Talks On Nuclear Deal Resumes, US Senator Accuses Iran Of ‘Frequently Bluffing’

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry resumed nuclear talks with Mohammad Javad Zarif, his Iranian counterpart in Lausanne as the Mar. 31 deadline approaches soon. On the other hand, the U.S. administration seems to be facing strong opposition at home.

The Monday meeting included Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, and U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz as well. They met on Sunday so that technical details could be negotiated to curb the nuclear program of the Middle Eastern country. According to Kerry, Iran should make concessions to allow six world powers to finalise a nuclear deal agreement with Tehran. The other five countries are Germany, France, China, Russia and the U.K. Iranian officials said that those countries would get involved in the meeting on Tuesday.

These five nations expressed doubt at the beginning if Iran President Hasan Rouhani would be able to convince the hardliners of the country to support such a deal. However, it is the U.S. conservatives who are apparently trying their best to disintegrate the deal. Their efforts are reinforced by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s strong stance against the deal.

The agreement will lift sanctions as it is going to restrict Iran’s nuclear program. However, the White House earlier warned that there was a possibility that Republicans might prevent a deal to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear power.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton earlier authored a missive to Iranian leaders regarding the country’s potential nuclear deal with the United States. There were 47 Republican senators in total, who signed the missive presenting their views on the deal. They argued that the next U.S. president might revoke the nuclear agreement.

While Cotton faced strong criticism for allegedly undermining U.S. President Barack Obama’s administrative efforts, he said that he had no regrets about sending the letter. "It's so important we communicated this message straight to Iran," the senator said, "It's a simple fact of our constitution that if Congress does not approve that deal, then it may not last." According to him, Iranians “frequently bluff to walk away from the table." He said that the Congress was ready to impose more severe sanctions.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au