Congress prepares second front on Iran sanctions
Lawmakers are considering new terrorism-related Iran sanctions targeting Hezbollah after ceding to the Obama administration's request to back off on the nuclear issue.
House lawmakers are working on new terrorism-related Iran sanctions after ceding to the Barack Obama administration's request to back off the nuclear issue, Al-Monitor has learned.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is mulling ways to target Hezbollah and its Iranian patron in order to disrupt the group's support for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. The push would allow lawmakers to demonstrate their independence from the White House on Iran while also addressing the Syrian crisis as the conflict enters its fourth year.
"I think it's important to make the point that it's not all hugs and kisses. Hezbollah could not exist without the support of Iran," Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, told Al-Monitor.
He said Congress cannot allow Iran to "blackmail" the United States through terrorist proxies.
