Sanctions Debate Heats Up

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Sanctions Debate Heats Up
By Jim Lobe*

WASHINGTON, Apr 28, 2010 (IPS) - Wednesday's highly unusual public launch of a "conference committee" of both houses of Congress to hash out differences in long-pending legislation to impose unilateral sanctions on Iran marks a new stage in the escalating debate over what to do about Tehran's nuclear programme.

With mid-term elections only six months away, many lawmakers are eager to demonstrate their strong support for Israel, which has argued for the adoption of "crippling" sanctions against the Islamic Republic as the only way to halt its alleged effort to acquire nuclear weapons short of a military attack.

But they are running into opposition from the administration of President Barack Obama which, while declaring that it, too, favours sanctions, insists that it be given sufficient time and flexibility in imposing them to ensure that they do not undermine U.S. efforts to rally other key countries behind multilateral sanctions or alienate key sectors of the Iranian population.

Meanwhile, the entire strategy of using sanctions as an effective way to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear programme is coming under renewed question from several quarters.

Neo-conservatives and other right-wing hawks, notably former U.N. Amb. John Bolton and Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, argue that sanctions - whether sweeping and unilateral as those being considered by Congress, or more narrowly targeted and multilateral as those favoured by Obama - are unlikely to deter Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. In their view, Washington needs to prepare for a military attack on Iran's nuclear facilities or, in any event, not prevent Israel from carrying one out.

At the same time, some Iran specialists fault the administration for not making more generous offers to Iran during its "engagement" phase last year before moving to a containment strategy that includes additional sanctions, as well as other forms of pressure.

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