Secretary of State John Kerry appeared before Congress on Wednesday to urge a delay of new sanctions on Iran. Lawmakers from both parties have vowed to move ahead with a measure targeting Iranian oil exports, despite the recent progress in talks between Iran, the United States and five other world powers. Kerry said targeting Iran undermines negotiations.

Secretary of State John Kerry: “Our hope is now that no new sanctions would be put in place, for the simple reason that if they are, it could be viewed as bad faith by our — by the people we’re negotiating with, it could destroy the ability to be able to get agreement, and it could actually wind up setting us back in a dialogue that’s taken 30 years to be able to achieve. We’re asking the Congress to give the diplomacy they sought a chance to be able to work.”

The Iran nuclear talks are due to resume in Geneva next week. As Kerry spoke, the Israeli government continued to lobby against what it called a “bad deal” with Iran. Israel says the West is preparing to ease up to 40 percent of the sanctions, saving Iran up to $20 billion. According to Reuters, Iran would be allowed to sell around $7 billion worth of oil, chemicals and gold and also be allowed to import $12.5 billion in food, medicine and other goods that are currently barred. Speaking to the Israeli Parliament, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened the possibility of military attack if the Iran deal goes through, saying: “I would go so far as to say that a bad deal could lead to the second, undesired option.”