Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) said today he will oppose any effort by President Barack Obama's administration to extend negotiations with Iran beyond 24 November.
And he promised to pursue additional sanctions against Tehran if the six global powers and Iran cannot reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement by that date.
"I do not support another extension of negotiations," Menendez said. "At that point, Iran will have exhausted its opportunity to put real concessions on the table. And I will be prepared to move forward with additional sanctions."
But undersecretary of state for political affairs Wendy Sherman, appearing before Menendez's committee, refused to promise lawmakers that the US will not agree to continue the talks beyond that date. And Sherman would not commit to seek Congress' approval before reaching a comprehensive agreement with Iran or providing any new sanctions relief.
"I have learned in negotiations that it is very difficult to say what will happen at any given period of time," Sherman said.
Ranking Republican Bob Corker (Tennessee) told Sherman "in essence, you said today there is no deadline."
Negotiators from the US and five other global powers reached an agreement with Iran on 19 July to extend what was supposed to be six-months of negotiations by another four months, in hopes of reaching a comprehensive deal on Iran's nuclear program.
But lawmakers from both major parties are growing increasingly impatient. Corker and five other Senate Republicans introduced a bill on 23 July that would set a 28 November deadline for the talks and require congressional review of any potential deal.
As part of that deal to extend what initially was a six-month interim pact, the US agreed not to pressure Iran's oil customers to continue reducing their crude purchases, as would otherwise be required under US sanctions laws.
Sherman said US officials believe Iran's crude exports to its major customers have been limited during the negotiations to 1m-1.1mn b/d, although she conceded that figure does not include exports of condensates or shipments to Syria. Argus estimates Iran's customers imported just over 1.3mn b/d in the first half of this year, including up to 250,000 b/d of condensate.
Iran is Opec's third largest oil producer, with average wellhead production of 2.82mn b/d in June, down from 2.85mn b/d in May.
Under the initial six-month interim agreement designed to give the parties room to negotiate, the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany granted Iran access to $4.2bn in oil proceeds locked up in other countries. As part of the four month extension, Iran will be permitted to retrieve an additional $2.8bn in oil proceeds.
The US estimates that over the next four months, as the negotiations continue, Iran will enjoy $3bn-4bn in sanctions relief, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen told lawmakers.
But Iran has lost $120bn in oil revenues since 2011 and will forego another $15bn over the next four months as the negotiations continue, Cohen said.
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