December 19, 2013 | Quote
Iran Sanctions Would Be Expanded Under U.S. Senate Bill
Twenty-six U.S. senators introduced a measure to impose further sanctions against Iran if it violates a six-month accord with the U.S. and other nations or fails to reach a final agreement curtailing its nuclear program.
Senators Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, and Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican, announced the action today in an e-mailed statement.
The Obama administration has pressed lawmakers not to risk disrupting the Iran negotiations by acting on new sanctions before there’s time to see if a deal can be reached to assure that Iran doesn’t produce nuclear weapons. Action on a Senate bill won’t come before next month because members are preparing to adjourn by this weekend for the rest of this year.
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If implemented, “the new petroleum sanctions will cost Iran over $3 billion per month in lost exports of crude oil, fuel oil and lease condensates, and billions of dollars more from the blacklisting of key Iranian strategic sectors and the loss of access to overseas foreign exchange reserves,” Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in an e-mail.
“This should be incentive enough for Iran, if it is serious about saving its economy from a deep recession, not to cheat on its nuclear commitments and to move quickly to conclude a final deal,” said Dubowitz, who is an advocate for sanctions and an adviser to lawmakers on how to pressure Iran.