White House-Congress Dispute over Iran

23 January 2015 | 16:55 Code : 1943473 From Other Media General category

Fararu.com’s interview with Ali Bigdeli, an expert on international affairs

-The recent differences between the White House and the US Congress over the adoption of further sanctions against Iran are very real and serious between the two ruling Democratic and Republican parties.

-The White House and Congress have also had differences over other issues including Obamacare and the issue of 15 million immigrants.

-The other issue of difference between the White House which is led by the Democrats and the Republican Congress is US foreign policy.

-Congress attempts to show its force to the White House regarding the issue of sanctions against Iran.

-Certainly, if the US president was not committed to diplomacy to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue, this path would not have reached this point.

-Barack Obama has always stated that he knows only one way to resolve the nuclear issue and that is diplomacy and that is why he has expressed his support for this path.

-Obama had promised US public opinion to resolve Iran’s nuclear issue, the issue of Syria and the Middle East peace process.

-Next year the US will hold elections while Obama has not yet been able to take practical and effective steps regarding the resolution of these issues.

-There is no clear prospect for the Syrian crisis and the Middle East peace process and Iran’s nuclear issue is the most available issue for the White House which may fulfill one of Obama’s promises.

-The adoption of new sanctions against Iran, even if conditional according to what some US senators have discussed, violates the Joint Plan of Action. They state that if Iran leaves the negotiating table or if a final agreement is not reached by the end of June, new sanctions will automatically be adopted.

-The imposition of new sanctions cannot be justified in any way because the IAEA, as an international watchdog, has stated that Iran has fully fulfilled its commitments. Therefore, there is no reason for Congress to propose this threat under such conditions when Iran and the P5+1 are gradually advancing towards a comprehensive agreement.

-As the US President has stated, if new sanctions are adopted, they would not only deviate the path of Iran-P5+1 negotiations, but would also damage the US’ reputation and isolate this country among its allies.

-It would, thus, be reasonable for the US senators not to support such a decision. On this basis, I predict that this proposal would not even reach the voting process.