WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State John Kerry will make the case this week to skeptical Republicans and Democrats that the U.S. Congress should give him another two and a half months to secure a final nuclear deal with Iran.
In closed briefings with the full House of Representatives on Monday and the Senate on Tuesday, the chief U.S. diplomat also hopes to blunt legislation that would giving Congress the opportunity to approve or reject sanctions relief in the deal.
Kerry will be accompanied by U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and a representative from the U.S. intelligence community, U.S. Senate and House aides said on Monday.
Some Democrats are lining up with Republicans to support the bill and could form a veto-proof majority that President Barack Obama says would undermine the delicate final stage of negotiations ahead of a self-imposed June 30 deadline.
The backing by some lawmakers in Obama's party illustrates the depth of concern in Washington over the threat posed by the possibility of a nuclear Iran and the concern of many lawmakers that they are being shut out of the process to contain it.
Kerry's task this week is to persuade lawmakers to give him another two and a half months to negotiate a comprehensive agreement as well as, if possible, to temper a bill put forward by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker.
Under Corker's bill Congress would have 60 days to review the agreement, during which the Obama administration would be barred from giving Iran most sanctions relief and lawmakers could vote on whether to approve or reject sanctions measures.
Lawmakers have introduced about 50 amendments to the bill, with Democrats mostly trying to give negotiators more breathing room and Republicans trying to make the bill so restrictive that some supporters say it could be impossible to reach a deal.
One Democratic amendment would shorten the time given Congress to review the deal to 30 days from 60. Another would eliminate a provision of the legislation requiring the White House to certify that Iran has not supported or carried out an act of terrorism against the United States or any U.S. person.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who announced his presidential candidacy on Monday, has proposed an amendment requiring the Obama administration to certify that Iran has accepted Israel's right to exist.
Another would require the agreement to be a treaty, which would require the approval of two-thirds of the Senate.
It was not immediately clear which amendments would be allowed to come up for a vote in the committee.
The April 2 framework nuclear deal that Iran struck with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States seeks to limit the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
While the United States and some of its allies suspect the Iranian nuclear program is designed to obtain a nuclear weapon, Tehran has long maintained it is only for peaceful purposes.
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