Sen. Corker says Secretary of State John Kerry will update the Foreign Relations Committee on Iran negotiations this week. Image: NBC News
Tennessee Senator Bob Corker says the Obama Administration needs to be careful in its nuclear negotiations with Iran. The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee says the US shouldn’t give too many concessions to keep that country from developing nuclear weapons.
The US has placed restrictions on Iranian banks. Sanctions also make it hard for Iran to buy certain goods on the international market, like aircraft parts. Corker credits the restrictions one reason the country is now willing to negotiate about the future of its nuclear program. Appearing on NBC’s Meet The Press, Corker says the US and its allies shouldn’t drop sanctions in favor of a partial deal.
“A partial agreement leads us down the same path we went down with North Korea, where just to get people to act right as you move through these things you continue to reduce sanctions. So, again, lot of concerns about the approach, all of us want to see it resolved diplomatically, we know the sanctions have gotten us here. And we’re worried we’re dealing away our leverage.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic chairman of the Senate committee has proposed more international restrictions on Iran, not less. Corker says he’s not sure additional sanctions would be effective, and would take months to go into effect anyway.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM