US lawmakers expect global negotiators will request an extension of the 20 July deadline to reach a comprehensive agreement with Iran over its nuclear program.
OPEC member Iran has faced international scrutiny for its ongoing nuclear program, which it maintains is for peaceful energy generation but that US and European officials fear is the precursor for a nuclear weapon.
US and European officials ratcheted up sanctions against Iran in recent years, reducing its crude exports from around 2.5mn b/d in 2012 to around 1mn b/d at the end of 2013. As part of an interim deal reached in January, Iran has been able to access around $4.2bn in oil proceeds frozen by US and European sanctions while negotiations proceed.
Negotiators face a 20 July deadline. But representative Brad Sherman (D-California), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said today that he expects the administration to ask for additional time to reach a deal with Iran.
Sherman was among lawmakers who met with secretary of state John Kerry to discuss negotiations in Vienna, Austria, between Iran and the US, Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany.
"We are probably going to see an extension in Vienna," said Sherman, who chairs the committee's Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade Subcommittee. "It is probably not going to be for the full six months, but something close to that."
President Barack Obama yesterday raised the prospect of a possible extension.
Sherman said the administration may be more receptive to triggered sanctions as part of a deadline extension. The deal Sherman outlined would impose new sanctions on Iran if, on a specified date, Obama declares that a satisfactory deal has not been reached. Sherman said he would prefer such an arrangement to include a congressional resolution concurring with the president's determination.
"The administration is not as opposed as it was yesterday – or months ago - to a bill that would impose new sanctions on Iran," Sherman said.
The State Department rebuffed that assertion, saying that Sherman's account of the meeting "is inaccurate" and that the administration's position is that it does "not support additional nuclear-related sanctions while we negotiate."
Regarding an extension of the deadline, the State Department said the parties are "discussing what the contours of an extension would look like if all parties were to agree to one."
Senator Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) also said he expects the administration to ask for additional time when the deadline arrives on 20 July. Kirk said he favors immediate sanctions along the lines of the legislation he co-authored with Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey).
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