Clinton backs bill controlling funds for force against Iran

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) on Monday signed on to a bill barring funding for military action against Iran without approval from Congress, offering a counterweight to an Iran measure she took heat from fellow Democrats for backing last week.

Clinton co-sponsored a measure from Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) prohibiting spending on military operations in Iran that have not received congressional authorization. Anti-war activists have hailed the Webb plan for restraining President Bush’s ability to act unilaterally against Iran, which the administration has linked to attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq.

“I continue to support and advocate for a policy of entering into talks with Iran, because robust diplomacy is a prerequisite to achieving our aims,” Clinton said in a statement. “I also support strong economic sanctions against Iran, including designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization, to improve our leverage with the Iranian regime.”

Endorsing the Webb bill allows Clinton to balance her vote for an anti-Iran amendment added by Sens. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) to the defense authorization bill last week. Among other provisions, that measure encouraged Bush to classify the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group, alarming many Democratic base voters who viewed it as a veiled push for war against Iran.

Clinton was the only Democratic presidential candidate to endorse Kyl and Lieberman’s language, earning her a rebuke from some rivals during last week’s debate in New Hampshire.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) missed the vote, but his aides said afterward that he would have opposed the amendment. Obama has not signed on to Webb’s bill or publicly commented on it in recent months.

Webb’s measure could be offered as an amendment to this week’s defense appropriations bill or called up as a free-standing measure. A Senate aide familiar with the bill said discussions are continuing on its next move but that interest in finding a vehicle for it has grown since last week’s U.S. visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.