State Department Official Downplays Iran’s
Strategic Influence
By Adam
Graham-Silverman
Congressional
Quarterly
July 9, 2008
On the same day Iran test-fired missiles in a show of force in
the Persian Gulf, the Bush administration
Wednesday sought to downplay the country’s power and influence.
“For its part, Tehran seems to relish heightening concerns by promoting
the illusion that Iran
is on the ascendance,” Undersecretary of State William Burns said in prepared
testimony for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “However, Iran is not 10
feet tall, nor is it even the dominant regional actor.
“Iran has no
real friends anywhere that could offer strategic reassurance, vital investment,
or a secure future in a globalized world.”
That statement seemed
at odds with the friendly relations Iran
maintains with some of its neighbors, including Iraq,
Russia and Turkey — a situation committee members pointed out.
In his prepared
remarks, Chairman Howard L. Berman , D-Calif., called
on the United States to
enforce sanctions against European countries and companies that do business
with Iran.
“It is time for our
European allies and their corporations to cease investing in Iran,” he said. “It’s time for them to take far more significant steps
along the lines of cutting off all significant commerce with Iran, as we did
years ago – or at least I thought we did.”
That last comment was
a reference to an Associated Press report Tuesday that found that despite heavy
sanctions, the United States
sent Iran
$546 million in goods from 2001 through last year.
Some items like
medicine and agricultural products are exempt, but the AP report also found
that the Treasury Department has issued 2,821 licenses to trade with Iran and denied
only 178 applications. Cigarettes were the largest commodity going to Iran — $158
million under President Bush, AP reported.
Since their initial
enactment in 1996 (PL 104-172), sanctions against Iran
have never been applied to foreign entities, largely because of strong
opposition from the European Union, which considers them an extraterritorial
application of U.S.
law. Critics say the Clinton and Bush administrations have been unwilling to
ruffle European feathers or inconvenience multinational corporations.
Burns, the No. 3
official at State, quoted President Bush in his prepared testimony to emphasize
the need for continued multilateral, not unilateral efforts.
Burns pointed out
that the European Union has recently stepped up its sanctions against Iran, including
an asset freeze on its largest bank, Bank Melli.
“The international
community is more unified than in the past on the necessity for Iran to fully
and verifiably suspend its proliferation sensitive nuclear activities and
reestablish international confidence in the peaceful nature of its nuclear
program,” Burns said. “Many foreign investors, particularly from Iran’s historic trading partners, are reluctant
to commit capital in such a precarious political environment and while Iran continues
to pursue threatening policies.”
Berman also called
for direct, unconditional talks with Iran in order to keep it from obtaining a
nuclear weapon, which he said would set off an arms race among Persian Gulf
states and terrorist groups and effectively end the international nuclear arms
control regime.
“Achieving nuclear
status would exponentially increase Iran’s influence and the appeal of
fundamentalism throughout the Islamic world,” Berman said.
Burns said the United States remains ready to talk, making no
mention of U.S. policy that Tehran set aside its
nuclear program as a precondition for negotiation.