WASHINGTON—The Obama administration collided with Congress Wednesday over Iran sanctions, and both sides were girding for a brawl that appeared likely to stretch through the year.
Lawmakers from both parties vowed at a Senate hearing to press ahead with legislative plans for new punitive measures—over President
Barack Obama’s veto warnings. Top administration officials, meanwhile, disclosed at the hearing that the international talks over Iran’s nuclear program may extend beyond an end-of-June deadline. That would be the third such extension.
Deepening the chasm, House Speaker
John Boehner (R., Ohio) invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress on Feb. 11 about threats from Islamic extremism and Iran. The Obama administration called the move a breach of diplomatic protocol because neither Congress nor Israel consulted first with the White House.
“We found out from Boehner’s staff this morning—no heads up from the Israelis, and no discussion with Boehner’s staff in advance either,” said a senior administration official.
The decision to invite Mr. Netanyahu to the U.S. to back a position supported by many Republicans came after Mr. Obama last week hosted U.K. Prime Minister
David Cameron, who urged Congress not to adopt new sanctions against Iran during the talks and disclosed he had personally lobbied some U.S. senators.