New Iran Sanctions Bill Would Close Loopholes, Mandate Enforcement
On May 13, 2011, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ros-Lehtinen (R)1 introduced H.R. 1905, the Iran Threat Reduction Act. According to her press release, this measure would close loopholes in current U.S. sanctions legislation regarding Iran, mandate enforcement, eliminate certain sanctions waivers, etc.
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Would Strengthen, Add Sanctions, Eliminate Some Sanctions Waivers
The press release states that H.R. 1905 would:
- close loopholes in both energy and financial sanctions and counter the Iranian regime’s efforts to evade them,
- strengthen sanctions on efforts by the regime to circumvent existing law,
- add new sanctions, such as denying visas to individuals who engage in Iran’s energy sector (which is more broadly defined by H.R. 1905),
- increase the number of sanctions the Administration is required to impose,
- update and replace previous Iran sanctions laws to ensure that current law regarding the totality of the Iranian threat to U.S. national security, U.S. interests, U.S. allies, and the Iranian people, is comprehensive,
- target capital markets and activities by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and its affiliates by incorporating provisions from bipartisan legislation introduced by other Senators on the Committee,
- eliminate some waivers, resulting in a mandate to impose sanctions on those who provide the Iranian regime with the materials, technologies, and other assistance to pursue its nuclear, chemical, biological, and missile programs, and
- create a new higher standard for waiver of energy sanctions by requiring the President, before waiving, to notify Congress and certify that failure to waive would pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security interests of the U.S.
(Ros-Lehtinen was the lead co-sponsor of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (CISADA), which was signed into law in July 2010, and which strengthened and expanded U.S. sanctions against Iran. The Chairman notes that, to date, only two companies (an Iranian state-owned firm and a Belarusian state-owned firm) have been sanctioned under CISADA and the underlying Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 for investment in Iran’s energy sector.)
1Co-sponsors are Representatives Berman (D), Burton (R), Royce (R), Sherman (D), Chabot (R), Ackerman (D), and Deutch (D).
(See ITT’s Online Archives or 03/04/11 news, 11030325, for BP summary on Ros-Lehtinen’s questioning of Secretary of State Clinton about implementation of the sanctions against Iran.
See ITT’s Online Archives or 03/29/11 news, 11032913, for BP update on CISADA’s penalty provisions, etc. with links to other BP summaries on CISADA.)