Intel: Iran sanctions debate highlights fissure between Democratic hawks, progressives
The debate over how to respond to President Donald Trump’s sanctions regime against Iran in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is creating a fissure between the hawkish and the left wings of the Democratic party.
The debate over how to respond to President Donald Trump’s sanctions regime against Iran in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is creating a fissure between the hawkish and the left wings of the Democratic Party.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., and the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Affairs panel, Bob Menendez, D-N.J., came out in favor today of broadly maintaining the current US Iran sanctions regime while urging the Trump administration to do more to facilitate humanitarian sanctions exemptions in the fight against COVID-19.
“Simply lifting sanctions that have been imposed for ongoing malign behavior will not provide immediate or meaningful relief for the Iranian people,” Menendez said in a statement. “Congress has made clear through legislation that our sanctions regime should never hinder humanitarian and medical relief,” he added.
Why it matters: Their announcement today mirrors the position former Vice President Joe Biden — Trump’s likely Democratic opponent in November — came out in favor of on April 2. It also follows a push from Biden’s primary opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and a group of progressive lawmakers to lift broader financial sanctions on Iran as it struggles to cope with the pandemic.
