GOP senators to Kerry: Don’t concede to Iran on nuclear deal

Senate Republicans warned Secretary of State John Kerry not to make any nuclear concessions to Iran

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) led 30 GOP senators in sending Kerry a letter ahead of his meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. 

{mosads}Kerry and Zarif met on Sunday to continue negotiating a comprehensive nuclear deal in an effort to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

The United States, Iran and six other world powers have until Nov. 24 to reach a deal. The countries have already asked for an extension after missing the July 20 deadline.

“[Under Secretary of State] Wendy Sherman and her team are getting desperate, floating these so-called ‘creative solutions’ to hide the fact that they haven’t gotten Iran to agree to a single irreversible step to eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons capability,” Kirk said on Monday.

The Obama administration lifted some economic sanctions against Iran in order to get the country to the negotiation table, but lawmakers said the State Department is giving Iran too many concessions without anything in return.

“Given that a nuclear Iran poses the greatest long-term threat to the security of the United States, Israel, and other allies, we are gravely concerned about the possibility of any new agreement that, in return for further relief of U.S.-led international sanctions, would allow Iran to produce explosive nuclear material,” the letter sent over the weekend stated.

The senators demanded details on negotiations and what the administration will require of Iran in exchange for more concessions.