U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss denounced the new temporary deal on Iran’s nuclear program Sunday, saying it will do little to curb the theocracy’s quest for a nuclear bomb.
Chambliss, appearing on ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” said the U.S. gave up too much in the deal.
“Now is not the time to ease sanctions when they are working,” said Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “We’ve got all the leverage in the negotiation, and we’ve let them out of the trap.”
Georgia’s senior senator, who is not running for re-election next year, said he expects a new push in the Senate for tougher economic sanctions. President Barack Obama invited key senators to the White House last week to urge them not to pass new sanctions while these talks were ongoing.
“I think you’re going to see a strong movement in the United States Senate to move ahead to tighten sanctions,” Chambliss said.
“Now there will have to be some timeframe in there. They’ve done this deal. And this can be done without the approval of Congress. So for the next six months it looks like this deal is going to be in place. And it may be that we have to pass a resolution that puts sanctions on effective (in) three months, four months, six months, whatever it might be.”
Chambliss’ comments were echoed across the aisle by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who said in a written statement that the “disproportionality” of the six-month deal makes it more likely Democrats and Republicans will agree on new sanctions when the Senate returns from recess next month.
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