[LATIMES] Secretary of State John F. Kerry implored Congress on Thursday not to impose tough new sanctions on Iran, warning that such a move could disrupt diplomacy over Tehran's disputed nuclear program at a delicate moment.Appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kerry said that because Iran is two months away from an election, new U.S. economic penalties could become an inflamed political issue and reduce the chances of a deal to curb the nuclear program.
"There's an enormous amount of jockeying going on, with the obvious normal tension between hard-liners and people who want to make an agreement," he told committee Chairman Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). "We don't need to spin this up at this point in time.... You need to leave us the window to try to work the diplomatic channel."