October 27th, 2009 by Jason

The West continues to wait for Tehran’s response to the proposed nuclear deal, with Iran promising a response within the next two days. Iran has stated it will seek some “very important changes” to the proposal.

Congress, however, is tired of waiting. Michael Crowley of The New Republic reports Representative Howard Berman (D-Cali.) and Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) will call for a debate on Iranian gasoline sanctions in their respective committees this week.  Furthermore, the House will consider a concurrent resolution (S Con Res 45) that will encourage the Iranian government to release the three detained American hikers. The Senate passed the resolution, sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), yesterday.

Writing in Foreign Policy, Karim Sadjadpour contends the Iranian government seeks to leverage the sentencing of Kian Tajbakhsh during negotiations with the West. He explains, “While neighboring Dubai and Turkey have managed to build thriving economies by trading in goods and services, Iran, even 30 years after the revolution, remains in the business of trading in human beings.” Sadjadpour argues that the President Obama’s policy of engagement has not improved human rights in Iran, as would be predicted by the theory that President Bush’s confrontationalism spurred hostile policies. Furthermore, engagement will be increasingly difficult as “any remaining moderates and pragmatists have essentially been purged from the Iranian government’s power structure.”

In the latest edition of insideIran, Maurizio Martellini and Riccardo Redaelli argue predicting Iranian behavior is difficult due to its “unwieldy political system and fractious political elite,” in seeming contradiction with Sadjadpour. However, Hossein Askari agrees with Sadjadpour that the United States has failed to effectively improve human rights in Iran, arguing the U.S. should pursue financial sanctions to help the Iranians “realize their dreams of a democratic state.” Also writing for insideIran, Tara Mahtafar observes the opposition are now taking a softer tone on Iran’s nuclear program, hoping to undercut President Ahmadinejad’s legitimacy further by undermining his most popular policy.

Finally, Peter Robinson at the Corner depicts the disagreement between experts over whether the mullahs are on their way out. Iran Unfiltered sorts through a different disagreement about what actually happened this weekend when a mob attacked Mehdi Karroubi (h/t Daily Dish).

Posted in Congress, Freedom, Human Rights, Iran, Judiciary, Legislation, US foreign policy, US politics, sanctions |