article_snippet: But what if Republican and Democratic opponents succeed in Republican and Democratic opponents intensifying effort to derail the diplomacy?
article_snippet: Not because all sides are desperate to keep talking.
article_snippet: Either move could have killed the agreement.
article_snippet: The opening for diplomacy is meanwhile not endless.
article_snippet: If diplomacy fails, how events unfold will be dictated by how the process collapses; who gets the blame; and the political pressures exerted on Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Washington and Tehran.
article_snippet: Walsh continued, "We would be between a lame duck (U.S.) president for whom negotiations had just failed, a weakened Rouhani, for whom negotiations have just failed, and a coming U.S. presidential election -- not exactly the best environment to return to talks and accomplish a diplomatic settlement."
article_snippet: But critics of the deal being worked out in Switzerland don't agree that such an outcome is the likeliest scenario.
article_snippet: Even if talks do succeed this year, the long-term future of an agreement still wouldn't be assured.
article_snippet: Some people who back the talks admit that may be the case, too.
article_snippet: A unilateral Washington pullout would likely infuriate U.S. partners and leave A future Republican president facing a boiling crisis that could overwhelm The administration's nascent foreign policy.
article_snippet: If all those countries have said this is good and this's working, (will a new president) just turn around and nullify this on behalf of the United States?
highlights_snippet: Outcome could affect next president .