Israel Matzav: Senate to take up sanctions against Iran after new year

Senate to take up sanctions against Iran after new year

Against the 'better judgment' of President Obumbler and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Herman Muenster John Kerry, the Senate will take up 'tougher sanctions' against Iran after the first of the year. Similar sanctions passed the House 412-12.

"It is now clearer than ever that tougher sanctions must be a key element of our comprehensive Iran strategy going forward," Dodd said Thursday. "My primary goal with this bill is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability."

Dodd said he would have liked to move toward conference on the bill before the holidays. "While I would have strongly preferred that, I recognize that given the delays on healthcare reform, we will not now have time to do that," he said.

Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Kerry, who this week floated the idea of visiting Tehran, a move that would be unopposed by the White House, added that senators "share the goal of creating maximum leverage in our efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon."

As in the House, the Senate sanctions are likely to have heavy bipartisan support, even as Republicans have expressed frustration with what they view as too-light pressure by the administration on the Islamic Republic.

"We've wasted a year," Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "Sanctions have to be tried before we explore the last option. The worst option is a military action."

Yes, that's the bottom line. Congress has wasted a year. The sanctions resolution they're now trying to pass might have been appropriate - and might have had a shot in hell of being effective - when it was first proposed at the beginning of the current congressional session. But now, it's too little, too late.

What could go wrong?

Israel Matzav: Senate to take up sanctions against Iran after new year