US Senate could hold off on new Iran sanctions bill

摘要

Washington—A key US senator said on Thursday that he would be willing to hold off on passing any new sanctions aimed at Iran, in order to give diplomatic efforts a chance to succeed. Senator Tim Johnson, Democrat-South Dakota, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said he is working behind the scenes to craft tough new sanctions should diplomatic efforts fail. But he said he would be willing to wait on introducing any bill for a while. “I agree that the administration’s request for diplomatic pause is reasonable,” Johnson said during a hearing. “A new round of US sanctions now could rupture the unity of the international coalition against Iran’s nuclear program. Existing sanctions will continue to bite and to bite hard.”