Although Congress was unable to stop the nuclear deal, it can still shift U.S. policy toward Iran in the right direction, writes Ray Takeyh. It should take its cue from the 1970s, when Congress lobbied the executive branch to press the Soviet Union on its human-rights abuses, and the 1980s, when it imposed sanctions on South Africa:
One of the curious aspects of the Obama presidency is its marked reluctance to criticize the Islamic Republic for its domestic abuses. In pursuit of its arms-control agreement, the administration convinced itself that it had to be deferential to the sensibilities of Iran’s paranoid rulers. As the White House exempted itself from judgment, the Islamist regime jailed dissidents, rigged elections, censored the media, and set records for executions. Most recently it “convicted” Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian on trumped-up charges.
No one has a greater ability to inspire dissidents than an American president embracing their cause. . . . But absent any such effort from President Barack Obama, congressmen and senators should use their own podiums to denounce Iran’s human-rights violations and highlight the cases of dissidents. Congress should spearhead its own set of sanctions, such as designating the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. The Democrats who voted for the Iran deal and the White House that pressed them to do so have all insisted that a nuclear deal does not mean ignoring Iran’s domestic repression. It is time to call both the White House and the Democratic caucus to account.
Read more on Politico: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/iran-nuclear-deal-congress-213270