Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has urged Congress to halt new sanctions on Iran.

Officials said the Obama administration has briefed the House and Senate on nuclear negotiations with Teheran. They said the White House wanted to ease pressure on Iran until the talks reach a resolution.

“We have conveyed that any congressional action should be aligned with our negotiating strategy as we move forward,” State Department spokeswoman
Jen Psaki said.

In a briefing on Oct. 25, Ms. Psaki referred to statements by House and Senate leaders for additional sanctions on Iran in an effort to stop oil exports. She said the White House would continue to meet Congress in what she termed “outreach.”

“So while we understand that Congress may consider new sanctions, we think this is a time for a pause, as we asked for in the past, to see if negotiations can gain traction,” Ms. Psaki said. “There’s always time for sanctions in the future as needed, but this is an ask we’re making to Congress now.”

The White House relayed the same message to Congress. Officials stressed
that Iran would not be allowed to slow down nuclear talks.

“The window for negotiation is not open-ended, and if progress isn’t
made, there may be a time when more sanctions are, in fact, necessary,”
National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said. “We have always
said that there would be no agreement overnight, and we’ve been clear that
this process is going to take some time.”

The Senate Banking Committee has been considering new sanctions
legislation that would ban Iran’s mining and construction sectors. Committee
members also sought to end all Iranian oil exports by 2015.

On Oct. 27, two leading Republican senators urged Obama to link U.S.
sanctions to an Iranian decision to forego uranium enrichment. So far,
Teheran has insisted that it would not halt enrichment.

“We should be prepared to suspend the implementation of new sanctions,
but only if Iran suspends its enrichment activities,” Sen. John McCain and
Sen. Lindsey Graham wrote in a column for the Washington Post. “We should
not accept that the centrifuges spin while the diplomats talk.”

Ms. Psaki said the administration would not press for the relaxation of
existing sanctions on Iran. She insisted that all sanctions continued to be
enforced.

“We still feel firmly that one of the main reasons we’re here is because
of the pressure of the sanctions,” Ms. Psaki said. “None of those sanctions
have been pulled back, as we’ve discussed.”

  Jen Psaki, Obama to Congress: Ease up on Iran, sanctions on Iran, support ‘our negotiating strategy’