US House condemns Tehran crackdown on protesters

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the strongest message yet from the U.S. government, the House of Representatives voted 405-1 Friday to condemn Irna's crackdown on demonstrators and the government's interference with Internet and cell phone communications.

The resolution was initiated by Republicans as a veiled criticism of President Barack Obama, who has been reluctant to criticize Tehran's handling of disputed elections that left hard-liner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in power.

Democrats, who typically are quick to voice their support for Israel anytime the Jewish state is seen as under siege, easily agreed to push through the resolution.

The policy statement expresses support for "all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties and rule of law" and affirms "the importance of democratic and fair elections."

It also condemns "the ongoing violence" by the government and pro-government militias against demonstrators, as well as government "suppression of independent electronic communications through interference with the Internet and cell phones."

Such a resolution has significant political influence, even though the legislative branch's say-so in foreign affairs has receded with time, the residue of expanding executive branch power.

Congress — particularly the 435-member House — frequently weighs in on foreign policy matters, when a similar message from the State Department or the White House would be considered confrontational. Such resolutions have no practical effect other than to express the opinion of lawmakers.

Rep. Howard Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said "it is not for us to decide who should run Iran, much less determine the real winner of the June 12 election.

"But we must reaffirm our strong belief that the Iranian people have a fundamental right to express their views about the future of their country freely and without intimidation," Berman, a Democrat, added.

Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas libertarian, cast the sole opposing vote.

The Republican push for the Iranian resolution included a suggestion that Obama's response to the crisis was weak.

House Republican No. 2 Eric Cantor urged Obama "to follow the lead of this House to speak out on behalf of the Iranian people and their quest for freedom and human rights."

Obama, whose goal is to engage Tehran in the hopes of blunting its perceived ambition of a nuclear weapon, has stayed mostly neutral on the election dispute, talking in parsed, measured terms, about the aspirations of the Iranian people to have their voices heard.

Obama told CNBC television this week that "when you've got 100,000 people who are out on the streets peacefully protesting and they're having to be scattered through violence and gun shots, what that tells me is the Iranian people are not convinced of the legitimacy of the election."

Obama also said that it was "not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling."

Iranians have long blamed the CIA for helping topple the elected government of Mohammad Mosaddeq in 1953 and replacing him with the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.