Senate Votes for Diplomacy on Iran
The Senate on Thursday endorsed President Bush’s diplomatic approach to Iran’s nuclear program after rejecting a proposal that would have increased sanctions against the Tehran government and those helping it.
In Shanghai today, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that he saw a six-nation incentive package aimed at getting his country to halt uranium enrichment as progress in resolving the dispute over the nuclear program.
“Generally speaking, we’re regarding this offer as a step forward, and I have instructed my colleagues to carefully consider it,” Ahmadinejad said after meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of a regional summit in Shanghai.
The Senate voted 99 to 0 to support the decision, announced May 31 by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, that the United States would join other Western nations in engaging Iran in negotiations and offering a package of incentives if Tehran suspended its uranium enrichment activities.
That vote came minutes after a 54-45 vote to defeat a proposal by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) that would have imposed mandatory sanctions on entities that help Iran acquire or develop weapons of mass destruction.
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