White House: Obama Would Veto New Iran Sanctions Bill

The White House said that a new sanctions bill against Iran will undermine efforts to achieve peaceful resolution for the Islamic Republic’s nuclear issue, noting that the US president would veto such bill.

Passing new sanctWhite House press secretary Jay Carney ions legislation now will undermine our efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said on Thursday.

“We don’t believe this proposal is necessary, as I think we’ve made clear and we have been discussing with members of Congress for quite some time. We don’t believe it will be enacted. We certainly know it’s not necessary. If it were to pass, the president would veto it,” he added.

Earlier on Thursday, a group of Democrat and Republican senators introduced new legislation to impose further sanctions against Iran if the country breaches the terms of the nuclear deal reached last month in Geneva.

The Senate bill also calls for “diplomatic, military and economic support” to Israel in case Tel Aviv decides to launch an attack against Iran’s nuclear energy program.

The Obama administration is not satisfied with the new legislation because under the deal no new economic sanctions should be imposed for the duration of the six-month accord.

Last week, US Secretary of State John Kerry told senators that passing new sanctions legislation now would violate the interim deal.