WASHINGTON — When the House of Representatives opens hearings on Tuesday about imposing new sanctions against Iran — a step that President Obama said would undermine nuclear talks with Tehran — the Republicans seeking to hem in negotiators will have some unintended allies 6,000 miles away.
Conservatives in the Iranian Parliament say they are working on a resolution of their own to counter the economic pressure aimed at forcing Tehran’s hand.
The resolutions in the United States Congress would choke off more of Iran’s oil revenue if the talks in Vienna do not end in an agreement by the end of June. The proposals in the Iranian Parliament would require Tehran to deploy centrifuges that can enrich uranium more efficiently than ever.
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The threat to resume high-level enrichment, which would shorten the time it would take Iran to build a bomb, was clearly intended by military leaders and other hard-liners as a signal to Mr. Zarif. He must come back, they are saying, with a deal that ensures Iran’s ability to hold on to much of its nuclear infrastructure — and thus the capacity to assemble a weapon if its leadership decides it needs one.
The move in Congress is a signal to Mr. Obama that the Republican majority is preparing to judge what constitutes a good and bad deal rather than take Mr. Obama’s word for it.
The Iranian Parliament, so suspicious of its own negotiators, will doubtless demand the same.
