Last-Minute Iran Sanctions Pass House

In a last-minute legislative maneuver, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced HR7112, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2008 on Thursday and ushered its passage through the House late Friday evening.

NYT Interview with Ahmadinejad in New York

Let no one say that Ahmadinejad is a stupid man.  His public persona is so fiery and controversial, yet in private he is reserved, calm, and accessable.  Seeing him in this setting, it would be easy for one to forget the vicious vitriol that he flung just moments before from the podium in front of the UN General Assembly.  (or possibly his uniquely hostile rhetoric toward Israel and the United States…or his government’s abysmal human rights record…or his bizarre and ridiculous statement about there being no gays in Iran…etc).

What strikes me about all this is that his hostility toward Israel and the US is not visceral; it’s rational, thought out, and developed policy.  If he can hold onto these radical ideas in such a calm and polite discussion, then it must–at least in his own mind–make sense.

Breaking: Last-Minute Push for Iran Sanctions in Congress

Last night, a number of frantic emails from colleagues and Hill staffers revealed that, despite previous signs that proposed Iran sanctions were dead in the water, a bill will be considered either today or tomorrow to impose further sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program.

In a last-minute maneuver, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced draft legislation to approve of a sanctions package similar to S.3445, introduced in the Senate by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT). (See: NIAC’s analysis of the Dodd sanctions package)

Congress set to adjourn without passing new Iran sanctions

Members of the House and Senate conference committee finished their work today to finalize the language on the defense authorization bill.  They did not include any new sanctions on Iran in the versions passed by either house of Congress, effectively ending (for this legislative session) the chance of another round of Iran sanctions being passed.

The conference report is posted at http://armedservices.house.gov/

Obama and McCain on Iran: 60 Minutes

Obama:

“We have not applied the kind of tough diplomacy over the last eight years that I think could have made a difference.”

“I don’t think it’s acceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.  And I haven’t taken any options, including military, off the table.”

McCain:

“Suppose that the Iranians had nuclear weapons, and you had a whole lot of other information about Iranian intentions, and you could make the case to the American people and to the world, I think it’s obvious that we would have to prevent what we are absolutely certain is a direct threat to the lives of the American people.”

Update: Defense Authorization Passes without Iran Amendments, More to Come…

Last night at 6:30pm, the Senate voted 88-8 to approve the Defense Authorization Act of 2009 (S. 3001)  without taking up nearly 100 pending amendments, including new Iran sanctions proposed by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT).

The Senate spent the last two weeks debating these proposed amendments, but in the end failed to approve of any of them — though it could still be possible that the final version will contain most or all of them.  But Congress will certainly have to work hard to finalize an agreement in time to adjourn next week.

The bill now moves to a conference committee made up of select Representatives and Senators who will work out a compromise over differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.  Aides are predicting that the nearly 100 proposed amendments could still be approved by the conference committee and attached to the final version that President Bush signs into law. 

Sanctions amendment could be folded into defense bill

There is a chance that a comprehensive Iran sanctions package spearheaded by Senator Chris Dodd could be be among the amendments folded into a omnibus “manager’s amendment” to the Defense Authorization this week. A whopping 234 amendments have been filed in total, but it is unlikely many of them will be considered. The question of which of these amendments will be singled out for a vote or included as part of a manager’s amendment is being negotiated behind the scenes as we speak.

What Do We Have to Look Forward to?

With the presidential election only 7 weeks away it appears to be a good time to ask: What changes on Iran policy do we have to look forward to respectively with each of the candidates and their running mates?

Sarah Palin on attacking Iran: “We can’t second guess Israel”

In her much-publicized interview with ABC’s Charlie Gibson, Republican Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin was asked: “What if Israel decided it felt threatened and needed to take out the Iranian nuclear facilities?”  Her answer:

PALIN: Well, first, we are friends with Israel and I don’t think that we should second guess the measures that Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security.

GIBSON: So if we wouldn’t second guess it and they decided they needed to do it because Iran was an existential threat, we would cooperative or agree with that.

PALIN: I don’t think we can second guess what Israel has to do to secure its nation.

GIBSON: So if it felt necessary, if it felt the need to defend itself by taking out Iranian nuclear facilities, that would be all right.

PALIN: We cannot second guess the steps that Israel has to take to defend itself.

Forgive me, but is it wise to have this type of blind faith in any country’s decision to attack another country’s nuclear program?  When you’re talking about a full-scale military attack taking place in the world’s most volatile region, with over 200,000 American troops stationed in two neighboring countries, and with as much uncertainty as there is about how close, if at all, Iran is to obtaining nuclear weapons…isn’t it okay to think about it a second time?  Or maybe even a third, just to be on the safe side?

Earthquake in Iran 6 on the Richter Scale

Iran was hit by an earthquake of a 6.1 magnitude on the Richter scale this Wednesday. Authorities in Iran said that 5 people were killed and 45 injured. The majority of those affected by the earthquake were Qeshm villagers and port workers in the area. A state news agency claims that over 100,000 lost power in the villages of Qeshm. Disaster relief teams have already begun investigating the damage and providing relief.

Rethinking the Message We’re Sending

“The ideology behind 9/11 has become mainstream in much of the Middle East” said Jim Sciutto, author of Against Us: The New Face of America’s Enemies in the Muslim World. Jim Sciutto in his first public appearance since the books publishing was hosted by David Gray from the New America Foundation yesterday.

The book profiled eight people from various Middle Eastern countries throughout the last seven years, analyzing the roots of their negative views of US foreign policy; the war in Iraq, the Afghan invasion, US support for Israel, and foreigners in Muslim lands. “You hear the same buzz words, same manifesto, and same rhetoric…What you heard from Jihadists [in the past], you now hear from people on the street.”

Darius Shahinfar Loses Race to Represent NY-21 in Congress

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Darius Shahinfar lost his bid for the Democratic nomination to represent NY-21 in Congress

Darius Shahinfar, the first generation American of Iranian descent who ran in the Democratic primary in the NY-21 Congressional race, lost last night.  New York voters in the district, which includes parts of Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and Johnstown, voted for Paul Tonko with 39% of the vote.  The low turnout election brought out over 38,000 voters.  Mr. Shahinfar, who was not considered a favorite recieved 3,879 votes.

Shahinfar’s canidacy did draw the interest and attention of the Iranian American community that raised over a hundred thousand dollars for his campaign.  During the campaign, he posted a video on his website in which talked about his heritage and what it meant for him personally and politically.

Colin Abele who covered the NY-21 primary election for the popular New York blog The Albany Project said of Shahinfar that “He ran an excellent campaign on true American values.”

Darius follows in the footsteps of other Iranian American candidates such as Goli Ameri, Ross Mir-Karimi, and others who have entered the political arena and embracing their Iranian American identity.