- 27 April 2010
- 2 Comments
- Congress, Diplomacy, Events in DC, Events in Iran, Human Rights in Iran, Iran Election 2009, Nuclear file, Sanctions, UN, US-Iran War
This post originally appeared at InsideIran.org.
To an outsider, it may seem like Washington is united in favor of imposing new sanctions on Iran. But, like in Iran itself, the internal wrangling over this question among Washington policymakers is much more complex and divided by factions than one may assume.
Congressional leaders from both parties have long called for new sanctions — and, bolstered by the strong support of the pro-Israel lobby, even some Democrats have undermined the President’s engagement strategy in their zeal for a more heavy-handed approach. Now that the administration has moved past direct talks and embraced the pressure track, one would assume that Congress, the President and the rest of the Iran policymaking community is in harmony.
But they’re not. Not even close.