More than a month ago, Iran and the U.S. cut an interim deal on Iran’s rogue nuclear program. Since then, Teheran and Washington look to have been engaged in the equivalent of arguing over whether the peace table should be round or square.
Recently a bipartisan group of U.S. senators tried to inject some urgency into this diplomatic snoozefest. They introduced a bill that would trigger new sanctions on Teheran, but only if talks failed. This bill aims to concentrate the minds of Iranian leaders who may believe, after a decade of stalling while they developed their nuclear prowess, that they can continue to bamboozle the U.S. and its Western allies with . . . more blather and feigned cooperation.
The legislation would ratchet up the embargo on Iran’s oil exports and blacklist Iran’s mining, engineering and construction industries. It would cut Iran’s access to billions of dollars in overseas bank funds and allow the U.S. to seize foreign-held assets of key regime officials. The key: Nothing-repeat, nothing-would happen unless Iran cheats.
But President Barack Obama has threatened to veto the legislation. The administration warns that any move that even appears to impose new sanctions could upset the delicate sensibilities of the brutal mullahs who rule Iran. Teheran could interpret this legislation as a (gasp!) threat and scuttle the talks. Please.
The Senate bill would strengthen Obama’s hand in current and future negotiations. He could shrug and play the good cop, warning the Iranians that he won’t be able to hold back more sanctions for long if they don’t get serious about cooperating, not just talking about cooperating.
Obama has promised many times that he wouldn’t let Iran build the bomb. But opposing this legislation is a signal to the Iranians that they need not worry much about further sanctions, that there’s no hurry here, that there really aren’t any imminent and painful consequences for stalling. That increases the risks to the world, and the risk that Israel may act in its self-defense.
Editorial, Pages 16 on 01/01/2014