Washington--US Republican lawmakers expressed growing impatience Thursday with ongoing negotiations in Lausanne to limit Iran's nuclear program, with some calling on Secretary of State John Kerry to return to Washington.
Congress is on its Easter break until April 13, and most members have remained discrete as they await the culmination of high-stakes talks between six world powers and Iran, which were intended to yield a political framework agreement by March 31 but have been extended.
Conservatives, many of whom from the start have remained hostile to any accord that would not eliminate Tehran's nuclear program altogether, accuse Kerry of offering too many concessions in the hope of concluding a deal with the Iranians.
"Red lines and deadlines mean absolutely nothing" to President Barack Obama's administration, congressman Mike Kelly told Fox News. "We've become accommodators."
"If I were John Kerry, I would walk away from the table and say sanctions are going to be re-imposed, full-throated, and we are not coming back to the table to talk about your nuclear program until you stop destabilizing the region," Senator Lindsey Graham, who is mulling a presidential run, told Fox Wednesday.
Senator Ted Cruz, who recently announced his White House campaign, wondered whether negotiators could force Iran to allow international nuclear inspectors before sanctions against the regime are lifted.
"Enough is enough. The Obama administration's bad deal is only getting worse with time," Cruz said.
Three more potential Republican presidential contenders -- former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and ex-governor Rick Perry of Texas -- also denounced extending the talks.
"If I were president today, I would suspend negotiations and ask Secretary Kerry to come home immediately," Kerry said in a statement, adding that he would demand Congress pass stricter sanctions on Iran until it drops any nuclear weapon ambitions.
"It is clear the negotiations are not going well," Graham said, in a joint statement with fellow national security hawk Senator John McCain.
"At every step, the Iranians appear intent on retaining the capacity to achieve a nuclear weapon. Without significant change, we have little confidence the negotiations will end well."
AFP
