Berman Iran Sanctions Bill Up for House Vote

The Iran petroleum-sanctions bill authored by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif) is scheduled for debate in the House imminently. That bill, if it passes, wouldn’t require sanctions on Iran; but  it would allow President Obama additional authorities for new sanctions. Both the Obama administration and Berman himself say they prefer multilateral sanctions, as unilateral sanctioning by the U.S. has failed for 30 years to change Iranian behavior.

J Street, the progressive American Jewish lobby, favors the Berman bill. Americans for Peace Now, another progressive American Jewish lobby group, opposes it. And the Israel Project, more-hawkish American Jewish lobby group, favors additional sanctions on Iran generally, but many signatures on its most recent petition on sanctioning Iran were inauthentic.