Congress passes new Iran sanctions
By Ron Kampeas · June 24, 2010
WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Congress overwhelmingly passed expansive new Iran sanctions.
The sanctions passed Thursday in both houses: 99-0 in the Senate and 408-8 in the U.S. House of Representatives, and now go to President Obama for signing.
The sanctions expand existing sanctions targeting investment in Iran's energy sector to encompass trade with the energy escort and business with the banking sector.
"This legislation tells Iran and its trading partners that the United States means business about stopping Iran’s illicit nuclear activities,” U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said in a statement. "It greatly strengthens our nation’s overall sanctions regime regarding Iran, increasing the prospects that Iran will finally bear serious costs for its blatant defiance of the international community."
By adding tough new reporting requirements, the enhanced sanctions also considerably restrict the president's ability to ignore the sanctions; Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama each bypassed the earlier sanctions passage passed in 1996.
President Obama had sought an blanket exemption in the new sanctions bill for countries that have joined the United States in multilateral sanctions through the U.N. Security Council; Congress resisted, granting him a 12-month waiver, with the stipulation that he explain to Congress the reasons for waiving the sanctions and peridoically report whether the sanctions-busters are falling into line.
The new sanctions also incorporate language introduced by Reps. Ron Klein (D-Fla.), Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) targeting businesses that contract to the U.S. government. Such businesses must now certify that they do not do business with Iran. The language drew support after revelations that the U.S. government had done at least $107 billion in recent years with contractors that do business with Iran.
The enhanced sanctions also target human rights abusers in Iran.
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The House okayed the package 408-8. Six Democrats and two Republicans voted nay. They were Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Pete Stark (D-CA), John Conyers (D-MI), Brian Baird (D-WA) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) voted present.
[ June 24, 2010] BERLIN – Arab youths threw stones at a Jewish dance group during a street festival in Hannover, injuring one dancer and forcing the group to cancel its performance, German police and dance officials said Thursday.
The teenagers also used a megaphone to shout anti-Semitic slurs during the attack Saturday, Hannover police spokesman Thorsten Schiewe said.
"I don't remember such a dramatic attack in Germany in recent times," said Michael Fuerst, the head of the Jewish community of the state of Lower Saxony.
Six suspects have been identified — five Arabic immigrants and one German — and police are looking for the other three, police said. The six range from nine to 19 years old and have been questioned by police.
Hannover prosecutors are investigating those involved on suspicion of incitement and causing serious bodily harm, prosecutor Irene Silinger said.
Stephan Kramer of the Central Council of Jews in Germany condemned the attack.
"This latest incident shows something we have not experienced before: A growing radicalization of young Muslims, which affects not only the Jewish community but the entire German community," Kramer told The Associated Press.
The Central Council of Muslims in Germany could not immediately be reached for comment.
Alla Volodarska of the Progressive Jewish community of Hannover dance group said its members were still in shock.
"What happened is just so awful," Volodarska told the AP. "The teenagers started throwing stones the moment our dance group was announced, even before they started dancing."
Volodarska did not attend the event but talked to several members of the eight-person dance group. She said one female dancer was injured in the leg by the stones.
"There were many kids throwing stones, many of them, but we don't know the exact number," she said, adding that the group had often performed Israeli dances at festivals and never experienced this kind of hostility before.
The festival took place in Sahlkamp, an immigrant neighborhood in Hannover.
Fuerst blamed city festival organizers for not calling the police right away.
"The organizers tried to de-escalate the situation themselves instead of calling the police. That's just plain stupid," Fuerst said, adding he was meeting Friday with the interior minister of Lower Saxony about the incident.
The Association of Jewish University Students in Germany said Thursday the number of anti-Semitic slurs and death threats against Jews in Germany had increased in recent weeks due to the May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza aid flotilla that left nine activists [sic] dead.
Kramer agreed and noted that online threats especially had risen.
"The threats are mostly sent by e-mail or posted online on social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace," Kramer said.
