Day after PM’s speech, Senate Democratic leader urges delay on Iran sanctions
Harry Reid says Congress should hold off more legislation against Tehran, so as not to complicate efforts to reach nuke deal
The leader of the minority Democrats in the US Senate said Wednesday that Congress should hold off on Iran sanctions legislation until negotiations on a nuclear deal play out.
Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada said action now by Congress could complicate efforts to reach an agreement constraining Tehran’s nuclear program.
His comments in an Associated Press interview suggest trouble for Republican efforts to quickly pass legislation allowing congressional oversight on any Iran nuclear agreement.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took procedural steps Tuesday to bring the bill to the floor.
McConnell’s move came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress. Netanyahu harshly criticized an emerging nuclear deal with Iran and said it would leave Tehran just a step away from making atomic arms.
After his speech to the joint houses of Congress, Netanyahu met with the bipartisan leadership of the US Senate — Reid and McConnell — saying he was “moved” by the response from both parties.
“I do want to thank the leadership of the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, both sides of the aisle, for inviting me here, giving me an opportunity to state Israel’s concern about an issue that could be the most important issue of our times,” Netanyahu told the senators.
Netanyahu said that an agreement with Iran must not automatically expire, but should lift restrictions only after Tehran stops supporting terrorism, halts aggression against neighboring countries, and ceases its promises to annihilate Israel. He also called for greater restrictions on Iran under the agreement.
“I was very moved by the attention and the responses to the speech from both sides of the aisle, and it’s very clear to me and it was clear in that hall to anyone who was there that the support for Israel is strongly bipartisan, that there is a very broad support of the American people and its representative for the Jewish state and I’m very, very grateful for that,” he added.
Netanyahu also recognized Reid, who is recovering from a home accident, during his speech, saying, “It’s good to see you back on your feet…I guess it’s true what they say, you can’t keep a good man down.”