AEI Backs off Support for Congressional Sanctions Resolutions

Danille Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute has an Op-Ed in today's Washington Post regarding the many sanctions bills pending in Congress. AEI has been leading the divestment and sanctions effort on Iran, publishing lists of companies doing business inside Iran. However, Pletka's opinion piece backs away from supporting the pending Congressional resolutions that would strengthen unilateral sanctions against Iran.

She concludes:
"As Congress watches the international community crawl toward a consensus, slapping down European firms that irresponsibly continue to underwrite Iran's energy sector will be tempting. To be sure, Europe could do much more. But the European Union has come a great distance since the 1990s, and with each month, Europeans are doing more to withdraw support from the Iranian economy.
A more appropriate focus of congressional action would be Russian arms and nuclear sales to Iran and growing Chinese investment in Iran's energy sector. Closing loopholes that permit U.S. firms to do business with Tehran through subsidiaries would also show admirable consistency."

It appears that AEI has come under pressure from some of its financially contributing and board members who have business stakes in companies that would be affected by the Congressional resolutions.