Congress Not Won Over By Rouhani Victory in Iran
Congress wants to press ahead with sanctions on Iran but the White House may go slow if Iran improves cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
WASHINGTON — The surprise election of pragmatic former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rouhani has won few converts on Capitol Hill, but new sanctions legislation could be avoided or postponed if there is progress in Iran's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
At a hearing on June 18, before the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, several expert witnesses implored Congress to give Rouhani time to alter Iran’s nuclear trajectory before seeking to impose new penalties.
If their advice changed any minds in a body that has passed ever-tougher sanctions against Iran, no member of the committee was willing to say so.
Asked at the conclusion of the hearing whether the witnesses' views had altered hers, Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, chair of the subcommittee, told Al-Monitor, “Not at all. We need to continue our sanctions policy and help our allies to see the light that a nuclear Iran will destroy the United States and will destroy Israel.”
