US to Iran: No sanctions relief without nuclear transparency
US lawmakers are beginning to lay out their demands for a tough inspection regime in exchange for any sanctions relief.
House members sent the White House a clear message on Tuesday that Congress won't "budge an inch" on sanctions on Iran unless the country comes clean about the suspected military dimensions of its nuclear program.
In the first in a series of hearings on the ongoing nuclear talks, key members of the House Foreign Affairs panel reiterated their demands that any final agreement contain strong verification procedures.
But they also insisted that Iran allow access to suspected military sites before lawmakers are asked to approve a final deal — or even a six-month extension of the current interim agreement beyond the July 20 deadline, should it prove necessary.
"Before we would ever consider the possibility of extending this interim agreement for another six-month period, certainly we should expect that the Iranians would at least be willing to grant that access to the areas where for more than a decade we've had these concerns," said Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the top Democrat on the Middle East and North Africa panel.
