(Foreign Policy) Josh Rogin - As the Obama administration pursues new multilateral Iran sanctions at the UN, Congress is getting ready to move forward with its own sanctions bill, which the administration is still not happy with. A senior Senate aide close to the process said the House and Senate will soon move to conference on resolving the two versions of the Iran sanctions legislation, one led by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), and the other sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT). The State Department had been negotiating with key senators over Dodd's bill, seeking an exemption for any countries they determine to be "cooperating" with the U.S. on the sanctions regime. Several congressional aides said Friday that their bosses were getting impatient with the ever-slipping deadline for UN action and that a large exemption that includes Russia and China would not fly on Capitol Hill. The administration had pledged to wrap up at the UN in February during the French rotating presidency, then that slipped to March, and now lawmakers are being told April.
2010-03-09 08:27:51Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive