DHAKA: US state secretary John Kerry appealed to sceptical US lawmakers on Tuesday not to impose new sanctions on Tehran while the United States seeks to negotiate a comprehensive agreement with Iran to curb its nuclear programme.

Republicans and Democrats in the House of Representatives raised questions about a November 24 deal between Iran and six major powers under which Tehran would restrict its nuclear program in exchange for limited relief from US economic sanctions.

The Obama administration hopes that the interim agreement, slated to last six months but renewable for a further six months by mutual consent, will provide time to negotiate a final deal with the Iranians within a year.

‘We are asking you to give our negotiators and our experts the time and the space to do their jobs and that includes asking you while we negotiate that you hold off imposing new sanctions,’ Kerry told the House Foreign Affairs Committee, The Times of India publishes this report on Wednesday.

‘I am not saying never ... If this doesn’t work, we are coming back and asking you for more. I am just saying not right now,’ he added.

‘This is a very delicate diplomatic moment.’

BDST: 1807 HRS, DEC 11, 2013