![](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2006\/09\/us-congress.jpg\" "\\"us-congress\\"")
WASHINGTON (VOANEWS.COM) \u2014 As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Western envoys meet with Iran’s foreign minister, part of a renewed push to get Iran to agree to a deal on its nuclear program, lawmakers in Washington are watching closely.<\/p>\n
In the U.S. Capitol, the much-talked about recent Iranian “charm offensive” on the West seems to be falling on deaf ears. Lawmakers, like the Senate Armed Service Committee’s James Inhofe are skeptical of Iran’s sincerity.<\/p>\n
“They’re our enemies. They hate us. And anything that’s going to be predicated on our trust of these people isn’t going to work,” said Inhofe.<\/p>\n
A group of 11 Republican senators has sent U.S. President Barack Obama a letter, urging him to increase pressure on Tehran, warning that despite Tehran’s diplomatic softening, “Iran has not changed course.”<\/p>\n
And it’s not only members of the Republican Party, often at odds with Obama, who are expressing doubts.<\/p>\n
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s speech this week at the United Nations failed to impress some Democrats, like Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Robert Menendez.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard a lot about peace, which we of course seek to embrace. But it is very hard to be promoting peace when you are rushing to powerful nuclear weapons,\u201d said Menendez.<\/p>\n
Such wariness could be a big problem for Iran as it tries to convince the international community the time has come to ease sanctions – as many U.S. sanctions cannot be undone without Congressional approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINGTON (VOANEWS.COM) — As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Western envoys meet with Iran’s foreign minister, part of a renewed push to get Iran to agree to a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-14731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran-a-world","8":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n