WASHINGTON: Hundreds of US lawmakers pressed Secretary of State John Kerry to lean harder on Iran in talks over its nuclear programme in a letter released on Thursday after Israel warned Washington not to go easy on Tehran.

Three hundred and fifty-four members — four-fifths — of the US House of Representatives signed the letter sent to Kerry on Wednesday night, expressing concerns that an agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme might not require sufficiently strict inspections of its nuclear facilities.

Know more: US open to back-channel talks with Iran

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Sept 5 that Iran had failed to address concerns about suspected atomic bomb research by an agreed deadline.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told President Barack Obama on Wednesday that he must make sure any final nuclear deal with Iran does not leave it at the “threshold” of being able to develop nuclear weapons.—Reuters

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2014