Report: Menendez, Obama clash on Iran

President Obama reportedly engaged in a heated exchange with Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) over Iran sanctions during Thursday’s behind-closed-doors session at the Senate Democratic retreat.

Obama warned Menendez that he would veto a bill that would impose new financial penalties on Tehran if the the ongoing nuclear talks failed, according to a report in The New York Times.

{mosads}The president, as he has in the past, argued that such a move could lead Iran to walk away from the negotiating table and result in the U.S. being blamed for the failure of the talks. And he reportedly suggested that senators supporting the legislation were doing so because of pressure from donors.

Menendez, for his part, warned that the White House was incorrect to suggest sanctions could be quickly turned back on if the talks collapsed. He also rejected the president’s call to take the long view on Iran’s nuclear program, noting he had worked on the issue for two decades.

Menendez and Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are expected to introduce Iran legislation in the coming weeks, and new Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has promised to give the bill, which is expected to pass, a vote.

Earlier this week, a former senior member of Obama’s Iran negotiating team said the White House would “go into overdrive” to make sure the president’s veto of such legislation was sustained.

“While the Republican-controlled Congress will undoubtedly give the administration a tough time, it is likely that President Obama will be able, without legislative interference, to continue negotiating an agreement that he believes is in the U.S. interest,” said Robert Einhorn, the former State Department adviser for nonproliferation and arms control.

The president also stressed his “strong opposition” to the legislation in a meeting with a bipartisan, bicameral group of congressional leaders earlier this week, according to a White House official.

This post was updated at 12:00 p.m.