British Prime Minister David Cameron confirmed Friday that he is calling U.S. Senators to lobby against passing new sanctions again the regime in Iran.
"To answer you very directly," Cameron said at a joint press conference with President Obama at the White House, "yes I have contacted a couple of Senators as British Prime Minster not to tell the American Senate what it should or shouldn't do, that wouldn't be right. But simply to make the point as a country that stands alongside America in these vital negotiations that it is the opinion of the United Kingdom that further sanctions or further threat of sanctions at this point won't actually help to bring the talks to a successful conclusion."
For his part, Obama reiterated his promise to veto any new bill that threatened new sanctions on the Iranian regime. "I will veto a bill that comes to my desk," Obama said, "and I will make this argument to the American people as to why I'm doing so."
Obama suggested a timeline of possibly "60 or 90 days" for securing a nuclear deal with Iran, but stressed he was not threatening war if the negations failed. "I am not, repeat not, suggesting that we are on immediate war footing should negotiations with Iran fail."
Reaching a deal with Iran on their nuclear program is the biggest foreign policy priority of Obama's second term and the regime in Iran has been using Obama's ambition as leverage during the talks.
