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Source: http://nymag.com/guides/fallpreview/2009/politics/58529/
The Iran Countdown
[New York Magazine] Michael Crowley - White House officials are all but resigned to the futility of direct diplomacy with Iran. Former State Department official Nicholas Burns predicts that "even if negotiations are held this autumn, they will fail." And if that happens, administration officials say, Obama will have little choice but to start to clench his own fist. That means turning the screws on Tehran through what Hillary Clinton has vowed will be "crippling sanctions." In Congress, a bill imposing penalties on companies that export refined petroleum to Iran already has 72 Senate co-sponsors and 294 in the House. Congressional leaders are just waiting for a green light from the White House before they proceed.