Iran draws attention of senior House Democrat

A top House Democrat on intelligence issues will meet with officials from the United Nations’ nuclear weapons watchdog Friday to discuss the security threat posed by Iran, a growing issue in the presidential campaign.

Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), a former member of the House Intelligence Committee, will meet with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, to discuss its new report on Iran.

{mosads}The report found that Iran may be withholding information about a possible nuclear arms program, and reflects growing frustration among investigators at the United Nations’ nuclear monitor that Iran is not cooperating fully.

The Hastings meeting with the international nuclear watchdog agency is a sign that Democrats are taking a closer look at the Iranian threat six months before the election, which may hand them greater control over national security policy.

Iran is emerging as a sensitive election-year subject.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) unveiled an expansive arms-control proposal for U.S.-Russia relations this week during a major foreign policy speech but he has continued to hew to the Bush administration’s line on Iran. McCain did, however, propose increased funding for the IAEA, which is tracking the possible development of nuclear weapons in Iran and other countries of concern.

Hastings is a senior member of the House Rules Committee who traveled recently with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to Israel and Iraq to assess security in the Middle East. His visit to Austria is part of a congressional delegation trip, or codel, that also traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, and Helsinki, Finland.

In Russia, Hastings met with the parliamentary assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is made up of former Soviet states, to discuss election monitoring. Hastings is chairman of the Helsinki Commission, which is composed of members of the House and Senate and is responsible for monitoring human rights.

The trip will cause Hastings to miss the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Rules and Bylaws Committee meeting on Saturday to settle the fate of Florida’s and Michigan’s delegates. The DNC stripped both states of delegates because they scheduled primaries in violation of party rules.

While Hastings is working on elections issues overseas, he remains concerned over the status of Florida’s delegates. Hastings has pressed DNC officials to resolve the dispute over the delegates and not defer the issue for another few weeks, said Hastings spokesman David Goldenberg, who joined the codel.

Some Democratic Party officials hope to defer the debate over Florida and Michigan for another few weeks, hoping that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) may soon drop out of the race. Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) are at odds over how to count delegates from Florida and Michigan, two states that Clinton won overwhelmingly.