Lawmakers warn against weak Iran deal

As talks on an Iran nuclear deal enter the final stretch, US lawmakers are sharpening warnings against a “weak” agreement and laying down red lines that, if crossed, could prompt Congress to trip up a carefully crafted international pact.

Several influential lawmakers said they do not want to see any sanctions lifted before Tehran begins complying with a deal, and want a tough verification regime in which inspectors could visit Iranian facilities any time and anywhere.

They also want Tehran to reveal past military dimensions of its nuclear programme, particularly after Secretary of State John Kerry seemed to soften the US stance last week by saying Iran would not be pressed on this point.

“I have become more and more concerned with the direction of these negotiations and the potential red lines that may be crossed,” Senator Bob Corker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told a hearing on Wednesday.

Demand say

Corker authored a bill giving Congress the right to approve or disapprove any final deal that emerges from talks between six major powers and Iran. Kerry travels to Vienna today for the

latest round.

The talks, which are expected to drag past a self-imposed June 30 deadline, could mark the end of a nearly two-year negotiating process aimed at restricting Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

President Barack Obama signed the bill into law last month after the White House failed to persuade enough Democrats not to join Republicans in demanding a say.

As the deal deadline nears, lawmakers are coming under pressure not to support an agreement that gives much ground to Tehran.

AIPAC, the influential pro-Israel lobby, has been campaigning hard in Congress on its concerns that any agreement could be “fundamentally flawed”.