Congressional misgivings about Russia and Iran arose in the early 1990s after Russia agreed to build a nuclear power plant near the Iranian city of Bushehr. "Its whole purpose is to make nuclear weapons," Rohrabacher said in a telephone interview. "Iran is a major producer of oil and gas. It doesn't need a nuclear plant."
After 1995, concern intensified because of "all kinds of [other] proliferation activities," recalled Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Calif.), a senior member of the International Relations Committee and a co-sponsor of the restrictions.
The law, which arose from suspicion that Clinton's supportive relationship with then-Russian President Boris Yeltsin was causing him to overlook the Iranian connection, requires the president to impose trade sanctions on any foreign entity that helps Iran acquire nuclear, chemical or biological weapons technology.
Lawmakers added the space station clause as a stiffener. "We wanted to put [everyone] on notice that we should not have high-level cooperation, even in space, if the Russians were using their technological skills to help Iran build a nuclear weapon," Rohrabacher said. "It was a very good idea."
The White House fought it, arguing "that we were using the diplomatic tools available . . . and that passing this law would undercut our ability to influence the Russian government," said Gary Samore, former director for nonproliferation and export controls on Clinton's National Security Council staff. But fearing a veto override, in the end "we held our noses and signed it," Samore said in a telephone interview from the London offices of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, where he directs research in nonproliferation.
As the clock ticks down on the balance agreement, the Bush administration has begun to consider alternatives. "Obviously, we'll have to look at different strategies," one senior administration official said. "But there's still a fair bit of water to go over the dam before we get to that point."
The official, who declined to be identified by name because of Bush administration policy, did not rule out eventual certification of Russian compliance, but said the administration has no immediate plans to take that step. The official also saw no way to use the "imminent" danger exemption as long as a Soyuz craft lifeboat is at the station.
Also off the table is the possibility of buying Soyuz spacecraft through intermediaries or negotiating a new barter agreement. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Steven Pifer told Congress last year that such tactics "would likely be viewed by many as an evasion of the law."
NASA is pursuing the possibility that additional Soyuz might be available under the existing agreement, which authorizes the United States and Russia to trade goods and services "for the life of the station," but it is far from clear whether this wording would admit Soyuz purchases beyond the original 11.
"How this is done under the Iran Nonproliferation Act is a legitimate question for the future," said NASA spokesman Glenn Mahone. "There's no good answer for that, but we have some time to decide."
Congress could amend the law, but a modest effort to allow "extraordinary" purchases from Russia after the Columbia tragedy in February 2003 has picked up only three signatures.
"The concern is that if you try to bypass the law, you're breaking it, and it's there for a reason," said Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Tex.), author of the amendment and ranking minority member of the space subcommittee.
But in the years since passage of the nonproliferation act, the congressional climate toward Iran has "grown worse, not better," Berman said, especially after Iran was forced to acknowledge it had set up a clandestine nuclear program separate from Bushehr. Iran said the program is for peaceful purposes.
"The Iranians have made it clear they are moving forward on the bomb," Rohrabacher said. "Even though I have more focus than most people on making the space station a success, I am not going to do anything that would signal a weakening of our resolve."
The Bush administration, at least for now, has decided to appeal to Russia's goodwill and its desire to reaffirm its position as a leader and "reliable partner among space-faring nations," the senior administration official said.
There is little evidence that these blandishments are having an effect. Russian Aviation and Space Agency spokesman Konstantin Kreidenko said in an interview that while there have been "some working discussions" about the United States purchasing Soyuz, "Americans didn't ask for free flights," an impossibility after 2005.
"From then on," Kreidenko said, "we won't be able to send people for free."
Correspondent Peter Baker in Moscow contributed to this report.
