Further Iran sanctions would undermine efforts by international community

A bipartisan report published by analysts with an independent non-profit group in the US said further sanctions on Iran will only undermine the diplomatic effort currently underway to curb the Islamic Republic's nuclear program."It is difficult to argue that a new sanctions bill is intended to support the negotiations when all the countries doing the negotiating oppose it," concluded the report by the Iran Project, a group that serves to bolster the US-Iran dialogue and educate members of Congress.The document examined the pros and cons of the bill introduced in December by Senators Mark Kirk and Robert Menendez, a Republican and a Democrat, respectively. The bill seeks to increase sanctions as a way of pushing Iran to cooperate further with the international community. But any such action "would feed an unwelcome narrative" to the other countries involved in the nuclear talks, and "the net result would be less pressure on Iran," said the report."It is very difficult to imagine that the sanctions bill would do anything but undermine Rouhani, as he attempts to steer Iran on a different path," it continued. "This is an assessment shared not only by Iran experts, and Iranian expats who have opposed the regime, but also by Israeli military intelligence, which has concluded that Rouhani may represent a fundamental shift in Iranian politics." The report also added that it would be "difficult to escape the conclusion that a new sanctions bill would increase the probability of war, even if it does not guarantee such an outcome." For now, the sanctions bill has slowed down in Congress as it undergoes another review, and more than 100 members of the House of Representatives - including some Republicans - signed a letter last week backing President Barack Obama's negotiation process with Iran.Discussions to work out a long-term nuclear deal, based on the agreement reached in November, are currently underway in Vienna, Austria, between Iran and the members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1). The meetings are expected to run through Wednesday.