U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Photo: WikiCommons.

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer said on Sunday he was “disappointed” by the terms of the agreement reached overnight between Iran and world powers “because it does not seem proportional,” with the lopsidedness of the give-and-take likely to lead to bi-partisan support for further sanctions against the Islamic Republic.

“Iran simply freezes its nuclear capabilities while we reduce the sanctions,” the senator said in a statement. “It was strong sanctions, not the goodness of the hearts of the Iranian leaders, that brought Iran to the table, and any reduction relieves the psychological pressure of future sanctions and gives them hope that they will be able to gain nuclear weapon capability while further sanctions are reduced. A fairer agreement would have coupled a reduction in sanctions with a proportionate reduction in Iranian nuclear capability.”

“The goal of the administration is to eliminate all of Iran’s nuclear weapons-making capability by the end of the final negations; it is still my hope they can achieve that goal,” he said.

“As for additional sanctions, this disproportionality of this agreement makes it more likely that Democrats and Republicans will join together and pass additional sanctions when we return in December. I intend to discuss that possibility with my colleagues.”

Presenting the agreement on Saturday night, U.S. President Barack Obama asked the world to judge Iran on its ability to comply with the terms of the agreement, particularly the International Atomic Energy Agency inspections into all of its hidden nuclear laboratories. If Iran does not comply, Obama said renewed sanctions would be significantly harsher.