Hillary Clinton Sides with Obama on Iran Sanctions
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Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is siding with President Obama on the issue of Iran nuclear negotiations, saying Congress should hold off on imposing any additional penalties while diplomatic discussions run their course.
Clinton offered her perspective in a letter last month to Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“Now that serious negotiations are finally under way, we should do everything we can to test whether they can advance a permanent solution. As President Obama has said, we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed, while keeping all options on the table. The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that imposing new unilateral sanctions now ‘would undermine the prospects for a successful comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran.’ I share that view,” Clinton said.
“It could rob us of the diplomatic high ground we worked so hard to reach, break the united international front we constructed, and in the long run, weaken the pressure on Iran by opening the door for other countries to chart a different course.”
Clinton penned the letter in response to a request from Levin, who asked her to weigh in on the issue.
“I have no doubt that this is the time to give our diplomacy the space to work. If it does not, there will be time to put in place additional sanctions in the future, with greater international support necessary to ensure enforcement, and to explore every other option on the table,” Clinton said.
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