Russia's War Leads Administration to Drop One Objection to Iran Sanctions Bill

By Andrew Cochran

The Associated Press reports this morning that Secretary of State Rice has announced that the Administration will not pursue the U.S.-Russia civil nuclear cooperation agreement in light of Russia's invasion of Georgia. As the AP notes, Congress was probably unlikely to approve the agreement before it adjourns later the month and President Bush leaves office. But the action could move a new Iran sanctions bill one step closer to passage in Congress and approval by the President. As I posted on June 12, the agreement was the basis of one of two official Administration objections to a version of a new Iran sanctions bill which barred entry by the U.S. into the agreement. As Congress left for the August work period, there were two Senate versions of the bill, one of which did not include the bar objected to by the Administration.

Now that the Administration has dropped the attempt to pass the agreement, an Iran sanctions bill is one step closer to approval. But the Administration is still be opposed to bill language imposing extra-territorial sanctions on firms from other nations. Even if that objection were resolved soon, a final Senate bill would have to be reconciled with one or more House bills, and that's difficult given the shortened Congressional schedule due to the November elections.

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