Kerry for temporary pause in Iran sanctions

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman are expected to appear in front of the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday in an effort to hold off on increasing sanctions on Iran. The briefing follows days of talks in Geneva between Iran and the U.N. Permanent five plus Germany (P5+1), where despite coming very close - according to Kerry - no deal was reached on Iran's nuclear enrichment program. "What we are asking for right now is a pause, a temporary pause in sanctions. We are not taking away sanctions. We are not rolling them back. This is about ensuring that our legislative strategy and our negotiating strategy are running hand in hand," said State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki on Tuesday, noting that due to classified information, the hearing will be closed to the press. "At the same time, it is important for Congress to reserve its ability to legislate for the moment when it is most effective in order to give the current P5+1 negotiations the best chance to make real progress in achieving our shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," explained White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. "This administration has imposed the most crippling sanctions in history against Iran," he added. "And we appreciate the leverage those sanctions have given us and we appreciate the partnership that Congress has given us in that effort. But this is a decision to support diplomacy and a possible peaceful resolution to this issue." "The American people do not want a march to war," he stressed. "They justifiably and understandably prefer a peaceful solution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and this agreement, if it's achieved, have the potential to do that." While Kerry declared it was ultimately the Iranian delegation that did not agree with the P5+1's united stance, Psaki insisted that "fault is immaterial" because "diplomacy is hard." "It's not about blame. This is a challenging, difficult, complicated issue. We've been working through it," she said, adding: "We came out of Geneva having made more progress and closer to an agreement than when we came in. Negotiations are about discussing tough issues; that's exactly what they did. "There is a gap -- still a gap what language may be appropriated that the Iranians -- that they are prepared to accept," noted Psaki. "But we're all - Kerry believes we're all negotiating in good faith." The U.S. has also made it clear on several occasions that Israel's security is paramount in these negotiations. "There is an over-arching goal of addressing threats posed to Israel, and that's part of our thinking as well," she concluded