Hillary Clinton argues against additional sanctions on Iran

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Iran warns it will walk away from nuclear talks if sanctions bill, supported by Senate majority, becomes law.

By Reuters | Feb. 3, 2014 |

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is urging Congress to resist imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, saying that "this is the time" to give diplomacy a chance to work.

Clinton, who leads the pack among potential Democratic presidential contenders for 2016, according to Reuters polling, said in a January 26 letter to Democratic Senator Carl Levin, "Now that serious negotiations are finally under way, we should do everything we can to test whether they can advance a permanent solution."
Her comments came after Levin wrote to her about the sanctions issue. The lawmaker released her letter on Sunday.

Fifty-nine of the 100 U.S. senators, including 16 of U.S. President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats, co-sponsored a bill that would impose new restrictions on Iran if talks on a permanent deal falter.

Iran, which insists its atomic ambitions are limited to peaceful purposes, has warned it will walk away from negotiations on its nuclear program if the bill becomes law. The measure is now stalled in the Senate amid expectations the chamber's Democratic leaders will not allow a vote.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.572138

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1. Iran warns against U.S. strike: We would 'recognize no boundary'

Top general says Islamic Republic prepared for all possibilities; Iran also said to be planning new fighter jets.

By Haaretz and Reuters | Feb. 3, 2014

Relations between Iran and the West may have thawed in recent months, but that didn't stop Iranian defense officials from warning the United States that if it dares to attack, the Islamic Republic would "recognize no boundary for its response."

In a televised interview that aired Saturday, Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami said Iran has plans in place to strike the U.S. from within in the event it is attacked first.

"The U.S. [threat of a] military option is of no care to us," Salami said, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. "They can use this option but should take the responsibility for its destructive consequences too," he added.

Salami said that Iran has identified possible attack scenarios against Iran “including air, missile and limited ground incursion…all possibilities have been studied and we have complete intelligence superiority in all these cases and operational strategies,” he was quoted as saying.

The general appeared to be responding to remarks from last month by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who told Al Arabiya that the military option against Iran would be back on the table of it violated the interim nuclear agreement reached with the West.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/.premium-1.572141