Iran Talks Cause Rifts Among US Leaders

November 18, 2013

Talks between world powers and Iran are scheduled to resume this week over the country’s controversial nuclear program. As details of a preliminary agreement begin to emerge, political leaders in the United States sharply disagree on the best way to move forward.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, U.S. television viewers have watched massive crowds in Iran shouting “death to America.”

Recently tens of thousands of Iranians turned out to mark the 34th anniversary of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. That historical legacy still haunts many Americans.

Now that negotiations between Iran and world powers have resumed, some U.S. political leaders are expressing concern about potential outcomes.

“The question being asked in America, 'Is no deal better than a bad deal?' And that is why you see people on the Hill [Congress] and others saying slow down, don’t be fooled,” said Adam Ereli, a former U.S. Ambassador to Bahrain.

Negotiators are currently working on an interim agreement that would put limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

In return there would be some easing of severe economic sanctions currently crippling Iran’s economy.

Republicans in Congress accuse the Obama administration of agreeing to allow the Iranians to continue to enrich uranium, an idea they say is fatally flawed.