OFAC Grants Permission to Iranian American Organization to Open Office in Tehran

In a significant departure from previous policy, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the Department of Treasury, has granted permission to the American Iranian Council (AIC) to open an office in Tehran. AIC says it does not receive funds from either the government of Iran or the U.S. AIC hopes to establish the office to promote better understanding and exchange between the U.S. and Iran. The Iranian government has not yet approved of the AIC office in Tehran.

A spokesman for the State Department told the BBC that the move did not signal any change in policy. However, it has been extremely difficult for American non-governmental organizations to obtain licenses to operate in Iran. Even following the Bam 6.6 earthquake in 2002, the humanitarian organization Mercy Corps was unable to renew its OFAC license after the first year of its relief efforts and was forced to pack up and leave despite much work to be done. One Iran expert tells me that the approval may be a feeler before the U.S. moves towards opening an Iranian interests section in Tehran.

Many non-governmental organizations, including the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, have been advocating for the last several years that the Bush administration should repeal Office of Foreign Assets Control restrictions that prohibit US non-governmental organizations from obtaining licenses to work inside Iran as a confidence building measure to demonstrate diplomatic sincerity. Hopefully, OFAC will grant licenses to additional non-governmental organizations in order increase civil society ties between the U.S. and Iran, and not just stop with one license to AIC. There are many organizations worthy of such a license.

Midnight Hour Sanctions Politics

On October 2, majority leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) attempted to amend and pass the House version of the "Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2008," H.R. 7112. A transcript of the attempt is below and partial video is available on C-Span here.

Senator Wayne Allard objected to the bill, but he was simply the Republican senator on the floor at the time and was objecting on behalf of other Republicans. There has been significant pressure from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to pass legislation expanding sanctions against Iran before Congress adjourns to campaign for the elections.

In the last few months, Senator Reid has been very reluctant to bring up an Iran sanctions bill on which the members of the Senate, particularly the Democrats, are not united. There were divisions among the Democrats over whether and which Iran sanctions legislation should be voted. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) introduced his “Iran Sanctions Act of 2008” on July 7, 2008 to thwart a legislative victory for Republican Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), the original sponsor of the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007, who is facing a tough re-election race against Democrat Jeff Merkley in Oregon.

However, Senator Baucus’ bill faced opposition because it contained controversial provisions and did not grant jurisdiction to other key Senate committees, namely Foreign Affairs and Banking. Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Richard Shelby (R-AL) then introduced their "Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2008," a version of which was introduced by Representative Howard Berman (D-CA) and passed by the House last Saturday.

Given Senator Reid’s previous reluctance to bring up a sanctions bill on which there has not been party unification, his attempt today was likely meant to alleviate pressure from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to pass legislation prior to the elections while putting the blame squarely on Republicans. However, the Senate may reconvene the week of November 17, but the House of Representatives is not likely to go back into session. Any bills the Senate debates during the November session will need to have already been passed by the House. There is still then a possibility that the Senate could pass the House version of the "Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2008" before the end of the year, but then the Bush administration could also veto it.

Transcript

MR. REID: I ASK UNANIMOUS CONSENT THAT THE SENATE PROCEED TO THE CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 7112, WHICH IS AT THE DESK, THE DODD-SHELBY AMENDMENT, WHICH IS ALSO AT THE DESK BE AGREED TO, THE BILL AS AMENDED BE READ A THIRD TIME, PASSED, THE MOTION TO RECONSIDER BE LAID ON THE TABLE, WITH NO INTERVENING ACTION OR DEBATE, AND ANY STATEMENTS RELATING TO THIS MATTER APPEAR AS PRINTED IN THE RECORD AT THE APPROPRIATE PLACE.

THE PRESIDING OFFICER: IS THERE OBJECTION?

MR. ALLARD: MR. PRESIDENT, I OBJECT. THE BANKING COMMITTEE IS WORKING ON NEW LANGUAGE, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, WHICH IS NOT YET COMPLETED.

MR. REID: MR. PRESIDENT –

THE PRESIDING OFFICER: OBJECTION IS HEARD.

MR. REID: I WANT THE RECORD TO REFLECT THAT THIS VERY IMPORTANT LEGISLATION OPPOSES SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO IRAN TO PROVIDE FOR THE DIVERSEMENT OF ASSETS IN IRAN BY STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS AND IDENTIFY LOCATIONS OF CONCERN WITH RESPECT TO TRANSSHIPMENT, OR DIVERSION OF CERTAIN SENSITIVE ITEMS TO IRAN IS A VERY IMPORTANT. WE'VE TRIED TO GET THIS DONE IN THIS BODY. THERE'S BEEN OBJECTION BY THE REPUBLICANS. THAT'S UNFORTUNATE.

Bob Baer on Fresh Air

Former CIA operative Robert Baer discusses his new book The Devil We Know on the October 2, 2008 edition of Fresh Air with Terri Gross. He writes in the book, "The sooner we understand the Iranian paradox — who they are, what they want, how they want to both humble us and work with us — the sooner we'll understand how to come to terms with the new Iranian superpower." Click here to listen to the interview.

Asia Society Event with Mottaki

On Thursday, October 2, 2008, the Asia Society will host a conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who will discuss the current direction of Iran's foreign policy. The event will be moderated by Frank Wisner, Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the former US Ambassador to India, the Philippines and Egypt. The event will be webcast from 8:30 am to 10:00 am EDT on the Asia Society website.

Berman on Passage of Iran Sanctions

After passing H.R. 7112, the "Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2008" on September 26, 2008, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman and the bill's sponsor, released the following remarks:

"Mr. Speaker, preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power to me is one of the great national security challenges of our age. A nuclear-armed, fundamentalist Iran would become the dominant power in its region. The global nonproliferation regime would crumble; already today we know that many of Iran's neighbors are contemplating their own nuclear programs - and can anyone be sure that Iran, with a leader who speaks like he speaks now, would not resort to either the use of nuclear weapons or to the hand-off of those weapons to terrorist organizations?

"The sanctions that the United States and the international community thus far have placed on Iran have squeezed Iran's economy somewhat perhaps, but clearly not enough significantly to slow down its nuclear program. The present strategy is not working. I'm disappointed, and I
believe that the Iranian regime is surely heartened -- by the failure of urgency the Administration's to produce the kind of results we need regarding Iran's nuclear program. We need to make our foreign-policy priorities clear, and Iran must be at the very top of the agenda in our dealings with other countries. Sanctions will never work unless we have buy-in and support from other key countries. And if the process of achieving that buy-in requires us to engage directly with Iran, that is certainly something we should do.

"Two months ago, the Permanent Members of the UN Security Council and Germany offered Iran all kinds of generous incentives to persuade it to suspend its uranium enrichment program. Just for the sake of initiating further talks on this package, they offered what they called a "freeze-for-freeze" -we will agree not to pursue further sanctions for six weeks, Iran agrees not to increase the number of its centrifuges for six weeks. But these offers weren't good enough for Iran, which responded only with a non-committal letter.

"If Iran won't change its behavior as a result of the sanctions the international community has already imposed, and if it won't change its behavior as a result of the generous incentives package offered in Geneva, we should be pursuing tougher and more meaningful sanctions.

"The legislation before us won't put an end to Iran's nuclear program, but it may help to slow it down. Moreover, it will send a strong signal to Tehran that the U.S. Congress views this matter with urgency. And it will send a message to companies and countries that invest or consider
investing in Iran's energy sector.

"This bill before us contains somewhat a diluted version of two measures put together in the other body that had previously passed by the House by votes of 397 to 16 and 408 to 6.

"This legislation would codify and expand export and import bans on goods to and from Iran. It would freeze assets in the U.S. held by Iranians closely tied to the regime.

"It would render sanctionable a U.S. parent company if that parent company uses a foreign subsidiary to circumvent sanctions. It expands the Iran Sanctions Act to cover not only oil and all natural gas but related industries. It authorizes state and local governments in the United States to divest from any company that invests $20 million or more in Iran's energy sector. It increases U.S. export controls on countries that are directly involved in trans-shipment or illegal
diversion of sensitive technologies to Iran. And it requires the Administration to report all foreign investments of $20 million or more made in Iran's energy sector - action which they have not done, notwithstanding the existing law -- and to determine whether each such investment qualifies as sanctionable.

"Since 1996, the Executive Branch has never implemented the sanctions in the Iran Sanctions Act, even though well over a dozen sanctionable investment deals have since been concluded with Iran by international companies. The Administration hasn't even made a determination as to whether any of the investors are sanctionable. This bill will close that loophole.

"The legislation before us also reaffirms our nation's commitment to multilateral diplomacy to increase pressure on Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program, and it explicitly states that nothing in this Act authorizes the use of force.

"Based on previous votes, this body is committed to ending Iran's illicit nuclear program by taking measures that are peaceful but meaningful. I believe this legislation is a useful step toward that end."

House Passes Sanctions Bill

Just before the Presidential debate last night, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7112, the "Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2008" by voice vote on motion to suspend the rules. The bill will "impose sanctions with respect to Iran, to provide for the divestment of assets in Iran by State and local governments and other entities, and to identify locations of concern with respect to transshipment, reexportation, or diversion of certain sensitive items to Iran." H.R. 7112 is the House version of S. 3445, the Dodd-Shelby sanctions bill, and was introduced into the House by Representative Howard Berman, along with 11 other co-sponsors. As I predicted over two weeks ago, H.Con.Res. 362/S.Res. 580 became a mute issue this Congressional session and the Dodd-Shelby sanctions bill came to the forefront with ease and little opposition in the House.

It remains to be seen what will happen in the Senate. According to CQ Today, it is not expected to see floor action in the Senate. The Bush administration has opposed the bill, as have foreign countries (primarily European allies) who see the bill as extraterritorial application of U.S. law. A group of business coalitions - including, Business Roundtable, Coalition for Employment Through Exports, Emergency Committee for American Trade, National Association of Manufacturers, National Foreign Trade Council, National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce, Organization for International Investment, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and USA*Engage - and Americans for Peace Now also oppose the bill.

What Kissinger Really Said About Diplomacy with Iran

KISSINGER: Well, I am in favor of negotiating with Iran. And one utility of negotiation is to put before Iran our vision of a Middle East, of a stable Middle East, and our notion on nuclear proliferation at a high enough level so that they have to study it. And, therefore, I actually have preferred doing it at the secretary of state level so that we -- we know we're dealing with authentic...

(CROSSTALK)

SESNO: Put at a very high level right out of the box?

KISSINGER: Initially, yes. And I always believed that the best way to begin a negotiation is to tell the other side exactly what you have in mind and what you are -- what the outcome is that you're trying to achieve so that they have something that they can react to.

Now, the permanent members of the Security Council, plus Japan and Germany, have all said nuclear weapons in Iran are unacceptable. They've never explained what they mean by this. So if we go into a negotiation, we ought to have a clear understanding of what is it we're trying to prevent. What is it going to do if we can't achieve what we're talking about?

But I do not believe that we can make conditions for the opening of negotiations. We ought, however, to be very clear about the content of negotiations and work it out with other countries and with our own government.