On Monday, the latest version of Congress's sanctions bill
was unveiled just in time to be passed and sent to the president's desk by July 4. The new sanctions bill comes on the heels of the one-year
anniversary of the Iranian election that sparked a massive protest movement
and brutal government reprisals. But while lawmakers have attempted to
reconcile the pain that these new sanctions will impose on ordinary Iranians
with Congress's claims of support for the people of Iran,
this bill remains a blunt instrument that perpetuates the sanctions-only
framework that has dominated the United States'
Iran
policy for decades.
The sanctions bill is officially titled the Comprehensive
Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (H.R. 2194), but it
is better known by its shorthand moniker--"crippling sanctions." This was
the term popularized by Senator Hillary Clinton when she was campaigning for president, but which fell out of vogue in Secretary Clinton's State Department
following the violence and suffering that occurred in Iran over the last year.
Congress, however, never abandoned the concept of
"crippling" Iran
through sanctions. Now that the Obama administration has passed U.N.
sanctions, and protests and government brutality in Iran
no longer dominate the news, Congress has free reign to pass sanctions that
would "cripple" Iran's
economy by cutting off gasoline to Iran that is used by ordinary
Iranians for everything from heating their homes to producing food and
transporting medicine.
What is most disappointing is that, in addition to the usual
sanctions proposals, there were innovative, intelligent Iran measures that were introduced
by members of Congress in the past year which offered a proactive approach to
eliminate unintended consequences of existing U.S. sanctions and support the
human rights and humanitarian needs of the Iranian people.
H.R. 4303, the Stand with the Iranian People Act (SWIPA),
introduced by Representative Keith Ellison, would impose travel restrictions on
Iranian human rights abusers and end U.S. government contracts for firms that
provide Iran's
government with Internet censorship and surveillance tools. Those
measures -- the punitive elements of the bill -- were included in Congress's new
sanctions bill.
But while these provisions are good, the final piece of
SWIPA would lift a U.S. ban that prevents American NGOs from working in Iran
for humanitarian and human rights purposes. Most Americans do not even
realize that current policies make it illegal for U.S. NGOs to work in Iran without
special permission, unless they have searched for ways to help Iranians and
realized that there are few avenues to provide such support.
SWIPA would also enable Americans to coordinate "people to
people" diplomacy with Iranians, such as organizing sporting events with
Iranians and Americans or establishing educational exchanges between students
in the U.S. and Iran.
These efforts could prove to be an important way for the U.S. to ensure Iranians do not suffer
under the isolation imposed by their own government, but unfortunately we are
prevented by our government from doing so.
While the final sanctions package acknowledges that such NGO
work is "in the national interest of the United States" and "fosters
humanitarian goodwill among the people of Iran" and should not be unnecessarily
hindered, the sanctions bill stops short of actually lifting the restriction
and allowing NGOs to carry out this important work.
Instead, the bill ensures that NGOs working on overt
"democracy promotion" efforts would not be restricted from working in Iran -- a
sign that Congress may be more interested in returning to a heavy-handed,
U.S.-led regime change approach than creating space to allow Iranians to take
their destiny into their own hands.
Another critical proposal that was only partially included
in the final sanctions package is H.R. 4301, the Iranian Digital Empowerment Act
(IDEA), introduced by Representative Jim Moran. The bill would ensure
that software enabling the people of Iran to communicate and access
information freely is not prevented from going to Iranians.
When IDEA was introduced last December, it was illegal for
American software designers and companies to allow Iranians to download even
the most basic software, meaning that the Iranian protesters who utilized
Internet communication software to broadcast images and videos for the rest of
the world to witness did so in spite of U.S. sanctions.
In March, the administration finally implemented a new rule
to allow free Internet communication software to be available in Iran,
but failed to lift restrictions on other software that would enable Iranians to
bypass government Internet filters. The final sanctions bill endorses the administration's decision and also includes good language that may open up the
possibility that satellite Internet and other technology can be sent directly
to Iranians. The bill stops short, however, of lifting restrictions on
anti-censorship software.
In sum, there were positive measures included in Congress's
sanctions package, but Congress missed an important opportunity to take
serious action to support the Iranian people. Many lawmakers who support
the politically popular "crippling" sanctions on Iran
also acknowledge the failure of the sanctions-only approach of the last three
decades and openly doubt sanctions will change Iran's behavior. But instead
of taking the opportunity to break this cycle, eliminate unintended
consequences of existing sanctions, and stand with the people of Iran, Congress
is moving forward with a bill that will ultimately impose further pain on
Iranians and do more damage than good.
Jamal Abdi is policy director for the National Iranian American Council (NIAC).
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