http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/11/us-iran-negotiationsnuclear.html
This article from Al Jazeera America is in the opinion section and focuses on the current talks between the United States and Iran on nuclear power and sanctions. As known by many already, there has been an ongoing conflict of interest between the United States and Iran over Iran's desire to have nuclear power as a source of energy. Many U.S. politicians and policy makers argue that nuclear energy isn't the true goal of Iran, but nuclear weapons are. This article's author argues that Iranian officials are discussing sanction talks with the wrong "arm" of the U.S. government. While Kerry is talking to Iranian officials and is a direct link to the U.S. executive department, the author seems to argue that the talks should be with Congress. The article points out that Congress largely wants to keep the tough sanctions and actually make them even tougher on the Iranian economy. The article goes on to point out that only Congress can change laws, since they are the ones who create laws. I personally agree with the author's argument to an extent. I think talking to the U.S. executive branch is important for negotiations, but I feel trying to talk directly with the U.S. Congress is equally important, as they are the branch tasked with creating and changing laws.
This article has some very good points. As both you and the article mentioned, Congress creates and changes laws, not the president or his administration. Therefore, the president should not be trying to negotiate deals outside of his jurisdiction. I also think Congress has some good points as to why they do not want to lift sanctions and possibly want to create more. It has taken the United States awhile to have Iran in the position needed to benefit the United States. The United States has more leverage by keeping and imposing more sanctions on Iran. Although the sanctions will hurt Iran, the United States would probably be hurt more by lifting the sanctions. The United States would look weak and vulnerable. We would no longer have as much control over the world as we do now, which could harm us in the long run. Therefore, I agree with Congress even though Iran is hurt by the decisions made by Congress.
ReplyDeleteThis article brought a whole new perspective to the sanctions for me. I had not previously known that there were multiple types of sanctions. I did not know about direct or indirect sanctions and had previously thought that they were just sanctions: 1 in the same. After reading this article it does become clear that Iran should be speaking directly with Congress. With not only the power, but clearly the desire to impose harsher sections, Iran should speak and negotiate directly with Congress. Speaking with the executive is an obvious starting point, but with the power lying so heavily in Congress that is who the case should be made to.
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