Washington : US President Barack Obama Tuesday appealed to senators to delay voting for tougher sanctions on Iran, as part of his administration's continuing efforts to buy negotiators more time and space to seal a deal on Iran's controversial nuclear programme.
The president, joined by his national security team including Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Susan Rice, had a two-hour closed-door meeting at the White House with the Senate leadership and heads and ranking members of the committees on banking, foreign relations, armed services and intelligence, Xinhua reported.
"The president made it clear that achieving a peaceful resolution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is profoundly in America's national security interest," White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a regular press briefing.
