Washington Seeking to Tighten Anti-Tehran Sanctions


Washington Seeking to Tighten Anti-Tehran Sanctions

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A bipartisan group of US senators in Congress on Thursday introduced a bill that would impose tighter sanctions against Iran over its ballistic missile tests and other non-nuclear activities.

The bill was introduced by 14 Democratic and Republican senators, including senior members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The legislation would set mandatory sanctions for anyone involved with Iran’s missile program and those who trade with them. It would also apply sanctions to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

The bill would require the US president to block the property of any person or entity involved in specific activities that violate the United Nations arms embargo on Iran, according to Press TV.

Lawmakers were expected to roll out the new sanctions ahead of a conference by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which is scheduled to start Sunday.

Senators Bob Corker, Robert Menendez, Marco Rubio, Ben Cardin and Tom Cotton are among the bill’s sponsors.

Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, claimed that the new bill had been written not to interfere with the international nuclear accord reached with Tehran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and Germany) reached the agreement in July 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.

In February, US President Donald Trump undermined the multilateral deal by introducing a new round of sanctions against Iran following the country’s successful test-launch of a ballistic missile, which Washington said was a breach of the JCPOA.

The US Treasury Department said Washington had imposed sanctions on 13 individuals and 12 entities as part of an effort to ratchet up pressure on Iran over its missile program.

The United States claims that Iran’s recent missile test violated Resolution 2231 that endorsed the Iran nuclear agreement.

Resolution 2231 calls upon Iran “not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons.”

Iran, however, maintains that none of its missiles have been designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads, because nuclear weapons have basically no place in the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine.

Iranian officials have underlined that the country will continue with its missile activity and that Tehran needs no permission from any country for enhancing its defense capabilities.

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