Politico quotes South Asia Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Barbara Slavin on the trade implications of nuclear negotiations with Iran:
Congress needs to be careful to not push Iran with more sanctions, Barbara Slavin warned Friday. It could wind up derailing nuclear talks and damaging future access for U.S. companies to a burgeoning export market.
Although there is no serious Senate legislation aimed at imposing new sanctions on the Middle Eastern country, discussions have intensified on Capitol Hill after negotiators postponed a November deadline to broker a deal. The goal for concluding a nuclear deal — being advocated for by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany, or the P5+1 — has now been pushed to March.
But if sanctions legislation were to get through, it could cause the sanctions framework now in place to fall apart, allowing the Russians and Chinese to conduct business with Iran without U.S. businesses having the same access, Slavin, a longtime foreign correspondent and published author, warned at a press event hosted Friday by the National Foreign Trade Council.