"If certain members of Congress want the United States to take military action, they should be up front with the American public and say so," Bernadette Meehan, National Security Council spokeswoman, said in a statement. "Otherwise, it’s not clear why any member of Congress would support a bill that possibly closes the door on diplomacy and makes it more likely that the United States will have to choose between military options or allowing Iran’s nuclear program to proceed."

The Obama administration on Thursday stepped up criticism of Democratic senators who are backing more sanctions against Iran, reports Ryan Grim:In other words, the 16 Democratic senators who are co-sponsoring a bill supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee— S. 1881 (the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act)—are opting for war. Forty-two Republican senators are also signed on as co-sponsors. The bill isn't expected to be voted on anytime soon.

The administration has publicly opposed the bill since it was introduced in December by Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Republican Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois. But this is the first time it has all but called the bill's supporters warmongers. Senate foes of the bill, including 10 committee chairs, have objected on the grounds that new sanctions now would strengthen the hand of hard-liners in Iran who do not want any negotiated agreement that curtails their country's development of nuclear power.

Asked in a December interview with Time magazine what would happen if new sanctions were imposed by Congress, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said flat out:



The entire deal is dead. We do not like to negotiate under duress. And if Congress adopts sanctions, it shows lack of seriousness and lack of a desire to achieve a resolution on the part of the United States. I know the domestic complications and various issues inside the United States, but for me that is no justification. I have a parliament. My parliament can also adopt various legislation that can go into effect if negotiations fail. But if we start doing that, I don’t think that we will be getting anywhere. Now we have tried to ask our members of parliament to avoid that. We may not succeed. The U.S. government may not succeed. If we don’t try, then we can’t expect the other side to accept that we are serious about the process.

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