US Republican lawmakers to reintroduce Iran sanctions

A group of US lawmakers is set to reintroduce a new bill seeking to impose tougher sanctions against Iran should nuclear talks between Tehran and the P5+1 group fail.

Talking to reporters at the Capitol on Thursday, Senator Mark Kirk said he expected the Senate Banking Committee to vote on the bill within weeks, Reuters reported.

The bill, co-authored by Kirk and Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, would toughen sanctions on Iran if the negotiations falter.

The Menendez-Kirk bill was introduced in December 2013, when President Barack Obama's fellow democrats were in power in the Senate.

The legislation did not come up for vote at the time as the White House insisted that the bill could spoil talks on Iran's nuclear program.

Nuclear negotiators from Iran and the P5+1 group – the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – wrapped up their latest round of talks on Tehran’s nuclear program in the Swiss city of Geneva on December 17, 2014.

The Geneva discussions were held almost three weeks after Tehran and the six countries failed to reach a final agreement by a November 24 deadline despite making some progress.

The two sides agreed to extend their discussions for seven more months until July 1, 2015. They also agreed that the interim deal they had signed in Geneva in November 2013 should remain in place during the negotiations.

The next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers will be held on January 18.

Source: presstv.com