Washington, January 14 (RHC)-- U.S. President Barack Obama has once again warned Congress against imposing new economic sanctions on Iran. Obama made the remarks during a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in the White House on Monday.

Obama told reporters: "My preference is for peace and diplomacy and this is one of the reasons why I've sent a message to Congress that now is not the time for us to impose new sanctions." The U.S. president on Sunday threatened that he would veto any legislation the U.S. Congress pushes for further sanctions.

So far, 59 senators have supported the bill that would impose more sanctions on Tehran if an interim nuclear deal recently reached in Geneva between Iran and the world powers fails. The Senate bill was introduced by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez and Senator Mark Kirk last month.

It proposes boycotting Iranian oil exports and the blacklisting of Iran's mining, engineering and construction industries. It also calls for "diplomatic, military and economic support" to Israel in case Tel Aviv decides to launch an attack against Iran's nuclear energy program.

Iran insists it will never negotiate under threats and pressure and if the U.S. Congress passes any new sanctions against the country, the Geneva agreement will be dead-on-arrival.