(JNS.org) A bipartisan group of 78 U.S. Representatives told U.S. President Barack Obama that additional Iran sanctions are needed until the Islamic Republic “takes meaningful steps to stop and reverse its illicit nuclear activities.” There is “no substantive evidence to suggest that Iran is slowing, or even considering slowing, its nuclear pursuit” since the election of new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the legislators wrote in an Oct. 4 letter. Obama and Rouhani recently spoke over the phone in the first direct contact between leaders of their respective countries since 1979.

The congressional letter contrasts with recent comments by Wendy Sherman, America’s lead negotiator with Iran, who recommended that the U.S. Senate hold off on additional Iranian sanctions before scheduled Western talks with Iran on Oct. 15. U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), a leading advocate of sanctions, said in response, “The State Department should not aid and abet a European appeasement policy by pressuring the Senate to delay sanctions while the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism races toward a nuclear weapons capability.”