WASHINGTON – The U.S. Congress moved closer here Wednesday to imposing a full trade embargo against Iran and pledged its support to Israel if it felt compelled to attack Tehran\u2019s nuclear program in self-defense.<\/p>\n
The Senate voted 99-0 to adopt a resolution that urged President Barack Obama to fully enforce existing economic sanctions against Iran and to \u201cprovide diplomatic, military and economic support\u201d to Israel \u201cin its defense of its territory, people and existence\u201d.<\/p>\n
Washington, it said, should support Israel \u201cin accordance with United States law and the constitutional responsibility of Congress to authorize the use of military force\u201d if Israel \u201cis compelled to take military action in legitimate self-defense against Iran\u2019s nuclear weapons program.\u201d<\/p>\n
The measure also re-affirmed the official policy of the administration of President Barack Obama that it would take whatever action necessary to \u201cprevent\u201d Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Republican-led House of Representatives unanimously approved new sanctions legislation that, if passed into law, would blacklist foreign countries or companies that fail to reduce their oil imports from Iran to virtually nil within 180 days.<\/p>\n
The same bill would expand the current blacklisting of companies that do business with Iran\u2019s financial sector to include those engaged in the country\u2019s automotive and mining sectors, as well.<\/p>\n
In perhaps its most controversial section, the bill also eliminates President Obama\u2019s ability to waive most sanctions for national-interest or national-security reasons.<\/p>\n
Such waiver authority, which has been routinely included in existing sanctions legislation, has been used by Obama to ensure that countries that have historically enjoyed important trade and financial relations with Tehran continue cooperating with Western-led international efforts to pressure Iran to curb its nuclear program.<\/p>\n