Congress prepares for final Iran push
A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of Nov. 17.
Capitol Hill will be a beehive of dueling messages on Iran next week as negotiators hurdle toward their self-imposed Nov. 24 deadline for a nuclear deal.
The Republican-controlled House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold not one but two hearings on the risks of a "bad deal" with Tehran. Peace activists, meanwhile, are planning a show of force toward the end of the week with just days to go before the deadline.
The Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade, chaired by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, kicks things off Nov. 18 with a hearing on "Iranian Nuclear Talks: Negotiating a Bad Deal?" Witnesses include think-tank experts J. Matthew McInnis of the conservative American Enterprise Institute, David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security and Ray Takeyh of the Council on Foreign Relations, who recently penned an op-ed for The Los Angeles Times raising doubts that Iran would step away from talks even if Congress adopts new sanctions.
On Nov. 20 Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., and her panel on the Middle East and North Africa will follow suit with a hearing examining what a deal could mean for global security. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden is among the witnesses.
