FDD Welcomes Conference Report on Iran Sanctions

Bill will grant broad new authority to target Iranian regime for illegal nuclear weapons program, support for terrorism, and human rights abuses

Washington, D.C. (June 22, 2010) – The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) welcomes comprehensive legislation providing the White House sweeping new authority to sanction energy companies and financial institutions that continue to do business with Iran as well as Iranians involved in serious human rights abuses. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) released the conference report on the bill Monday afternoon.

“Congress deserves praise from all Americans for working in a bipartisan way to give President Obama broad authority to target the Iranian regime through comprehensive energy and financial sanctions and to sanction those Iranians who are complicit in brutal human rights abuses following the most recent fraudulent Iranian presidential election,” said FDD Executive Director Mark Dubowitz, head of FDD's Iran Energy Project.

“The conference committee has produced an even stronger bill than the versions originally passed by the House and Senate in December and January,” said Dubowitz. “The bill recognizes the dominant role played by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran's energy and financial sectors and sanctions those companies which insist on having their names linked to these bad Iranian actors. These sanctions are the foundation of an economic pressure strategy to combat the regime's illegal nuclear weapons program, support for terrorism, and brutal oppression of the Iranian people.”

“The conferees have made it clear to foreign banks that they cannot do business with Iran's banks or the Revolutionary Guard if they want to maintain their business relationships here in the United States,” said FDD Vice President of Research Jonathan Schanzer, a former Treasury Department counterterrorism official. “The end result should be a financial flight that will deal a significant blow to the Iranian regime.”

The bill comes after both the U.N. Security Council and the European Union recognized the connection between Iran's energy sector and the funding of Iran's proliferation activities. It also brings new pressure on Iran by establishing a new set of penalties for foreign banks and financial entities that do business with the IRGC or any of its affiliates. Additionally, it imposes new financial and other restrictions on Iranian regime officials found to be complicit in human rights abuses and imposes new financial and other restrictions on those individuals.

Through its Iran Energy Project, FDD provides leading research and analysis in support of strong, broad-based energy sanctions, including gasoline, natural gas, and oil sanctions, and focuses on the prominent role of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran's energy industry. For more information, please visit IranEnergyProject.org.

For more information on FDD's Iran Energy Project, please contact Judy Mayka at judy@defenddemocracy.

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