Congress takes aim at pro-Iran election winners in Iraq
US lawmakers are preparing sanctions as Tehran presses Baghdad to form a government friendly to its interests.
Congress is once again trying to reduce Iran's influence in Iraq in a way that could jeopardize the country's efforts to form a new government following May legislative elections.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled to vote Thursday on bipartisan legislation that would block the assets of Iranians found to pose a threat of violence in Iraq. Meanwhile Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., has introduced a bill to sanction two Iran-backed Shiite militias in the upper chamber.
“I’m proud to introduce this legislation and send a strong message that we will not tolerate the destabilizing efforts of the Iranian regime when it comes to the government of Iraq,” the House bill's sponsor, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said in a statement when he introduced the Preventing Iranian Destabilization of Iraq Act in December.
The House unanimously passed similar legislation to Perdue's earlier this year as an amendment to the defense authorization bill. But the provision from Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, was dropped when the bill was merged with the Senate version.
