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Summary

President Obama has said his Administration shares the goals of the previous Administration to contain Irans strategic capabilities and regional influence, but the Obama Administration has formulated approaches to achieve those goals that differ from those of its predecessorin particular through expanded direct diplomatic engagement with Iran. This effort was put into practice with messages to the Iranian people by President Obama, and through invitations to and contact with Iranian diplomats at multilateral meetings, including those on Irans nuclear program. The Administration also slowed or discontinued policies that Iranian eaders considered hostile including: ratcheting up international sanctions, efforts to promote democracy in Iran, and openly discussing the potential for U.S. military action. The Administrations Iran policy is in flux because of the Iranian crackdown against protesters who alleged vast fraud in the June 12, 2009 presidential election, in which incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. The unrest represents the most serious challenge, to date, to the regimes authority, but virtually no observer predicts its imminent demise. President Obama has criticized Irans use of violence against protesters, but some in the Administration want to take advantage of Irans internal weakness to obtain a compromise that curbs Irans nuclear program. The Administration has indicated that, if Iran refuses to return to the nuclear bargaining table by September 2009, it would return to working with allies to resume sanctioning and pressuring Iran. Bills in the 111th Congress, such as H.R. 2194 and S. 908, would tighten U.S. sanctions on Iran by amending the Iran Sanctions Act to penalize sales to Iran of gasoline, and some of the measures contained in these bills have begun to advance as a consequence of the election-related violence. Congress also has passed resolutions that express solidarity with the demonstrators and condemn the regimes repression of them. The Obama Administration has not changed the previous Administrations characterization of Iran as a profound threat to U.S. national security interests, a perception generated not only by Irans nuclear program but also by its military assistance to armed groups in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the Palestinian group Hamas, and to Lebanese Hezbollah. The crux of the U.S. policy approach was to persuade Iran to limit its nuclear program by applying progressive multilateral economic pressure on Iran while also offering it potential cooperation should it suspend its enrichment of uranium. The pressure took the form of U.N. Security Council resolutions (1737, 1747, and 1803) that ban weapons of mass destruction (WMD)-related trade with Iran; freeze the assets of Irans nuclear entities and personalities; prevent Iran from transferring arms outside Iran; ban international travel by some Iranians; call for inspections of some Iranian sea and airborne cargo shipments; and call for restrictions on dealings with some Iranian banks. Separate U.S. efforts to persuade European governments to curb trade, investment, and credits to Iran; and to convince foreign banks not to do business with Iran, began to weaken Irans economy, compounding the effect of lower oil prices since mid-2008. For further information, see CRS Report RS20871, Iran Sanctions , by Kenneth Katzman, CRS Report RS22323, Irans Activities and Influence in Iraq, by Kenneth Katzman, and CRS Report RL34544, Irans Nuclear Program: Status, by Paul K. Kerr.

Related Legislation:
• H.R.2194
• S.908
• S.2087
• S.2232

Related Reports:
• RL32048
• RL32048
• RL32048

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