The following is from a Los Angeles Times editorial:
With exquisitely bad timing, a group of House members is urging the Senate to approve new sanctions against Iran during negotiations on a deal in which the Islamic Republic would suspend its nuclear program.
On Thursday, 63 members sent a letter to Senate leaders urging action on the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act, which passed the House in July.
The legislation would stiffen sanctions against some Iranian officials and penalize governments that might divert U.S. goods, services or technology to Iran. It also includes an expression of support for "freedom, human rights, civil liberties, free elections and the rule of law in Iran."
House members argue "the threat of enhanced sanctions holds the promise of compelling Iran to give up its ambitions." The question is whether new sanctions would undermine delicate negotiations.
Secretary of State John Kerry warned that "it could break faith with those negotiations and actually stop them and break them apart."
President Barack Obama noted that "there is no need for us to add new sanctions on top of the sanctions that are already very effective and that brought them (to the) table in the first place. Now, if it turns out they can't deliver ... the sanctions can be ramped back up."
There are strong indications that the government of President Hassan Rouhani is serious about an arrangement in which Iran would abandon any ambitions to develop nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from existing sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran's government has slowed expansion of its nuclear program since August.
As Kerry put it, Congress should "calm down" and let the negotiations continue.