WASHINGTON (ABP) — With a key vote looming in the House of Representatives, religious leaders weighed in on both sides of the debate over new sanctions against Iran.
Thirty-four conservative religious leaders, including the Southern Baptist Convention's top lobbyist, wrote members of Congress Dec. 10 urging "meaningful sanctions against the Iranian regime unless and until Iran abandons its efforts to develop nuclear weapons."
Christian peace organizations including the Mennonite Central Committee, Friends Committee on National Legislation, the Catholic group Pax Christi and Interfaith Fellowship of Reconciliation countered Dec. 14 with a letter calling on Congress to "pursue measures that strengthen our diplomatic efforts, and avoid imposing sanctions which create further hardship and inflict harm on the Iranian people."
Both appeals anticipated a House vote on the Iranian Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194), sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.). The bipartisan bill passed Dec. 15 by a vote of 412-12 now must be reconciled with a companion bill in the Senate.
The House bill targets companies that supply Iran with gasoline or help Iran improve its ability to refine petroleum products. Though it is the world's fourth-largest exporter of oil Iran, because of its poor infrastructure, relies on foreign imports for about 40 percent of its domestic gasoline consumption.
Proponents say sanctions would show the United States means business about Iran's nuclear program. Signers of the Dec. 10 letter included Richard Land, head of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, former SBC president James Merritt and Bob Reccord, former president of the SBC North American Mission Board.
"The stakes are exceedingly high," the letter from the group, calling itself Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran, said. "A nuclear-armed Iran is almost certain to initiate an arms race with other Middle Eastern and Arab nations who have reason to fear the religious, political and military ambitions of Iran's extremist leaders. As the world's leading state sponsor of international terror, we must assume Iran will sell or give nuclear weapons to extremist groups that are declared and demonstrated enemies to America and her allies."
"As the clock runs out, we must remember that Iran remains the world's leading state sponsor of terror, is funding Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza, has sought to destabilize democratic and Western-leaning regimes throughout the Middle East, is currently arresting and detaining political opponents, actively persecutes its Christian citizens, has shot protestors in cold blood in the streets, and its president has denied the Holocaust and vowed to wipe Israel off the face of the earth," the letter said.
Also signed by evangelical leaders including Christian Broadcasting Network President Pat Robertson, Prison Fellowship's Chuck Colson and Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family, the letter claims to speak "on behalf of millions of Christians who believe that the interests of peace and security would best be served by our elected representatives sending a powerful signal that this tyrannical Iranian regime shall never threaten the world with nuclear weapons."
The letter from peace activists, however, said unilateral sanctions by the United States would not bolster diplomatic efforts and would hurt the Iranian people. The National Iranian American Council and 12 other national organizations said the bill targets some of the largest companies among international allies. While imposing draconian penalties on corporations, the letter said the House bill would do little to harm Iran's ruling elite.
"Should President Obama and U.S. allies deem it necessary to pursue political and economic sanctions against Iran, we believe that such measures should be pursued multilaterally and constructed in such a way that minimizes the pain and suffering imposed on the Iranian people and keeps the option open for all parties to return to the negotiating table," the leaders said.
"Ensuring that Iran's nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes is in the vital national security interest of the United States," the letter continued. "Congressional action that risks undermining that important goal should be avoided at all costs. We believe that IRPSA presents such a risk and should not be enacted."
Some analysts believe the black market and deals with countries like China would offset sanctions by the United States and close allies.
A bill passed in 1996 already makes it illegal to invest more than $20 million in Iran's oil and gas sectors, but no U.S. president has opted to enforce it. Both Obama and Arizona Sen. John McCain (R) endorsed the gasoline restriction while running for president last year. President Obama has said he will make a decision about his Iran policy by year's end.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.