As the Obama administration continues to play the Iran crisis cautiously, with no strong words yet from the president, another dog not barking is the Congress. I just spoke to a House foreign policy aide who said that there had been some chatter about a resolution in that chamber supportive of the protesters, or free and fair democracy, etc., but that so far nothing has emerged. Which suggests to me that word has come down from the Obama administration that any sign of American interference would be severely detrimental to the reformists.
Something to watch is whether the election results gives momentum to the push on the Hill for sanctions targeted at Iran's gasoline supplies. The bill is currently sitting in the House Foreign Affairs Committee, whose chairman, Howard Berman, has said he wants to give the Obama administration time for diplomacy before pushing the measure. But the events of the past few days might create new pressure for tougher sanctions.
--Michael Crowley