The US president is not likely to use its veto power against the Congress drive for new anti-Iran sanctions in order to protect the Geneva deal with Tehran, says a political expert

“I think there is a slim possibility of that because Mr. [Barack] Obama made many promises before,” Dmitry Babich, a political commentator with the Voice of Russia, told an exclusive interview with Press TV on Saturday.

Babich recalled how the US president reached out to Iran in his first months in office, but “nothing came out of it.”

“So in this case also I’m not sure that Obama is ready to sacrifice his political career to risk another confrontation with the Republican hawks in Congress. I’m not sure that he is ready to sacrifice it all to reconciliation with Iran although such reconciliation would be a very positive step for all mankind,” he stated.

On Thursday, the US Departments of State and Treasury announced new sanctions against a number of companies and individuals for “providing support for” Iran’s nuclear energy program.

The new US sanctions came despite the nuclear deal inked between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Russia, China, France, Britain and the US -- plus Germany in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 24 in a bid to set the stage for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over the country’s civilian nuclear work.

Under the Geneva deal, it was agreed that no more sanctions would be imposed on Iran in the following six months.

The Geneva deal has been widely criticized by US congressmen as it allows Iran to continue enriching uranium

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for the escalation of international pressure against Iran over the country’s nuclear energy program

“As long as we don’t see actions instead of words, the international pressure should continue, and even more than that, it should be strengthened,” Netanyahu said on Sunday.

The remarks were Netanyahu’s first comments after the four-day expert-level nuclear talks between the representatives of Iran and six world powers in Vienna last week.
On Thursday, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions against a number of companies and individuals for “providing support for” Iran’s nuclear energy program.

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed the US action as “unconstructive and inappropriate” and reaffirmed Iran’s resolve to respond prudently to such measures, while seriously pursuing the nuclear negotiations with the six countries.

The new US sanctions came despite the nuclear deal inked between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, China, France, Britain and the US - plus Germany in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 24.
Following the conclusion of the interim agreement, Netanyahu described the nuclear deal as a “historic mistake.”
Israel, known as the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, has repeatedly accused Iran of pursing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program and threatened to take unilateral military action against the country.