If there’s one all Netanyahu can rely on in Washington it’s Senator Mark kirk (R-IL). As the U.S. was starting a diplomatic push in Geneva to sign a deal with Tehran, President Barack Obama called Mr. Kirk to ask him not to pursue tougher sanctions in Congress.

Notwithstanding Obama’s personal appeal, Kirk vowed to continue to intensify pressure on Iran. “I said it is 1938 and this is rope-a-dope by the Iranians to delay things until they get what they want, which is nuclear weapons,” Kirk told Chicago’s Sun Times of the phone call with the President.

“Based on the latest information available and after discussions with our allies, it is clear to me that the proposal on the table in Geneva would do nothing to prevent a future with Iranian nuclear weapons,” Kirk said in a statement released on Friday. “The agreement would leave Iran’s nuclear infrastructure in place while undermining the sanctions pressure we worked so hard to build. In short, it will increase the likelihood of war when we should be doing all we can to achieve a peaceful outcome. I will continue to press for intensified sanctions until I am assured we are not leaving our children a world with Iranian nuclear weapons.”

Speaking Lynn Sweet, Mr. Kirk emphasized that he had heard nothing from Obama during that call that changed his determination to press for tightening economic pressure on Iran — even as diplomatic alternatives are being negotiated.

Senator Kirk’s sanctions legislation, according to The Daily Beast, would tighten existing sanctions by imposing a quarantine on all remaining overseas Iranian government assets, including oil revenues and foreign exchange reserves held overseas, and reaffirm the existing quarantine on the transfer of any precious metals to Iran, according to Senate aides familiar with the amendment. Kirk’s language would also allow Obama flexibility to suspend the quarantine if Iran complies with U.N. Security Council resolutions, but would take away that flexibility if Iran cheats.

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)