Senate votes to extend sanctions against Iran

[HAIDER]

Washington (CNN)Senators overwhelmingly approved Thursday a 10-year extension of tough economic sanctions against Iran they believe is needed to ensure Iran doesn't violate the terms of the recent international accord to curb that country's nuclear program.

The measure passed 99 to 0 just weeks after the House passed it 419-1. It will be sent to President Barack Obama, who has not said if he will sign or veto the legislation.
"Preserving these sanctions is critical given Iran's disturbing pattern of aggression and its persistent efforts to expand its sphere of influence across the Middle East," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week.
"Extending the Iran Sanctions Act is an important step in congressional efforts to keep Iran's feet to the fire on a host of issues. Doing so it particularly vital if the United States is to retain a credible deterrent of snap back sanctions if Iran cheats" on the nuclear accord," said Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee.
The sanctions, which target Iran's energy, military and banking sectors, were first put in place in 1996 and have been extended and added to since then. Many lawmakers believe it was these congressionally-mandated sanctions that forced Iran to the bargaining table and led to an eventual nuclear agreement.
Iranian patrol boat trains its weapon on US Navy helicopter
The sanctions are actually not in effect at the moment since the Obama administration is allowed to waive them as long as Iran is in compliance. But lawmakers were still anxious to keep the sanctions -- which otherwise would expire at the end of the year -- in law so Iran understands how serious Congress is that the Islamic state not try again to develop nuclear weapons.
The action comes weeks before the end of the Obama administration, which spent years negotiating the deal, and the beginning of the Trump administration, which has warned it might scrap the deal altogether. There have been signs in recent days Trump might not ditch the accord but might use other steps to apply pressure on Iran to stop its support of international terrorism, its development of ballistic missiles, and its human rights abuses.
"I expect that next year the new Congress and new administration will undertake a review of our overall policy toward Iran, and these authorities should remain in place as we address how best to deal with Iranian missile tests, support to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime," McConnell said.
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Iran is not happy about the extension, believing it violates the international accord. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said last week his country would respond.
"If this sanction is implemented, this is definitely a violation of the agreement, without any doubt," Khamenei said in an address on state television. "And they should know that the Islamic Republic will definitely react towards it."
The White House has argued against Congress extending the sanctions, arguing it has the authority already to unilaterally re-impose the sanctions if needed. The White House has stopped short of saying if the President will veto the measure. If he did, based on the vote counts in each chamber, Congress could easily override the veto.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/01/politics/senate-extends-iran-sanctions/

 

[mohsen]

a clear violation of the deal and UNSC resolution (toilet paper / کاغذ پاره ) :

26. The U.S. Administration, acting consistent with the respective roles of the President and the Congress, will refrain from re-introducing or re-imposing the sanctions specified in Annex II that it has ceased applying under this JCPOA, without prejudice to the dispute resolution process provided for under this JCPOA. The U.S. Administration, acting consistent with the respective roles of the President and the Congress, will refrain from imposing new nuclear-related sanctions. Iran has stated that it will treat such a re-introduction or re-imposition of the sanctions specified in Annex II, or such an imposition of new nuclear-related sanctions, as grounds to cease performing its commitments under this JCPOA in whole or in part.

4.3.2. Sanctions on investment, including participation in joint ventures, goods, services, information, technology and technical expertise and support for Iran's oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors (ISA Sections 5(a)(1)-(2)

4.3.4. Sanctions on the export, sale or provision of refined petroleum products and petrochemical products to Iran (ISA Section 5(a)(3);

 

[خره مينه لګته وي]

Senate votes unanimously to renew Iran sanctions law

By: Richard Lardner, The Associated Press, December 1, 2016 (Photo Credit: Ronald Zak/AP)

WASHINGTON — The Senate moved decisively Thursday to renew a decades-old sanctions law that lawmakers said gives the United States the clout to punish Iran should it fail to live up to the terms of the landmark nuclear deal.

Senators passed the bill unanimously, 99-0, two weeks after the House also approved the legislation by an overwhelming margin of 419-1.

The bill to grant a 10-year extension of the Iran Sanctions Act will be sent to President Barack Obama, who planned to sign it.

The White House deemed the bill unnecessary but said it didn't violate the international accord meant to slow Iran's ability to make nuclear arms. Seeking to address Iran's concerns, White House officials emphasized that the administration can and will waive all the nuclear-related sanctions included in the renewal.

The officials weren't authorized to comment by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.

FILE - In this Nov. 23, 2014, file-pool photo, Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna, Austria. Kerry plans to see Zarif this week amid Iranian complaints that it's not getting the sanctions relief it deserves under last year's landmark nuclear deal.
Photo Credit: Ronald Zak/AP

Lawmakers view the sanctions law, which is set to expire at the end of the year, as an important tool for holding Iran accountable for any violations of the nuclear agreement and also as a bulwark against Tehran's aggression in the Middle East. The law, first passed by Congress in 1996 and renewed several times since then, allows the U.S. to slap companies with economic sanctions for doing business with Iran.

In exchange for Tehran rolling back its nuclear program, the U.S. and other world powers agreed to suspend wide-ranging oil, trade and financial sanctions that had choked the Iranian economy. The White House has been concerned that renewing the sanctions could give Iran an excuse to scuttle the deal by saying the U.S. had reneged on its commitments to sanctions relief.

Last month, after the House passed the renewal, Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Iran would be forced to react if the sanctions were renewed. White House officials said Thursday that Obama remained fully committed to implementing the deal and that the renewal would have no effect at all on the sanctions relief Iran is receiving.

But congressional Republicans and Democrats view the law as valuable leverage and criticized the Obama administration for not being tougher with Iran. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday that preserving the sanctions law is critical to blunt Iran's "persistent efforts to expand its sphere of influence" throughout the Middle East. He also criticized the administration for allowing itself to be "held hostage" by Iran's threats to withdraw from the nuclear agreement.

The Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Corker of Tennessee, said renewing the law will ensure President-elect Donald Trump can reinstate sanctions the Obama administration lifted to implement the Iran nuclear deal.

Corker, who has been mentioned as a candidate to be Trump's secretary of state, said he is in favor of appointing a U.S. official who would "radically enforce" the nuclear agreement. He also held out the possibility the deal could be renegotiated once Obama leaves office.

"My guess is, if cooperation doesn't ensue relative to really enforcing this, significant changes will occur very rapidly," Corker said.

However, several world powers signed onto to the deal and have showed no signs of backing away.

Congress approved the Iran Sanctions Act 20 years ago to block major foreign investment in Iran's energy sector. The goal was to deny Tehran the ability to financially support terrorism and build nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities.

Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has argued that keeping the law on the books is necessary if the U.S. wants to retain "a credible deterrent" of putting sanctions back into place should Iran cheat on its obligations under the nuclear agreement.

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

militarytimes

 

[Fafnir]

Now we just have to wait and see what rouhani and his ilk will do in response to this,personally I`m not going to hold my breath as they will no doubt make plenty of excuses as to why they wont be doing anything.