Plan in works if Iran cheats
WASHINGTON — Leading Democratic and Republican senators are crafting legislation to reinstate the full force of sanctions and impose new ones if Iran doesn’t make good on its pledge to roll back its nuclear program, brushing aside the Obama administration’s fears about upending its diplomatic momentum.
Sens. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., hope to have the bill ready for other lawmakers to consider when the Senate returns Dec. 9 from its two-week recess, according to legislative aides. Many in Congress are skeptical, if not outright hostile, to the deal reached by Iran and world powers over the weekend in Geneva.
The Kirk-Menendez measure would require the administration to certify every 30 days that Iran is adhering to the terms of the six-month interim agreement and that it hasn’t been involved in any act of terrorism against the United States.
Without that certification, sanctions worth more than $1 billion a month would be re-imposed and new sanctions would be added. The new measures would include bans on investing in Iran’s engineering, mining and construction industries and a global boycott of Iranian oil by 2015. Foreign companies and banks violating the sanctions would be barred from doing business in the United States.
The senators hope to send the bill to the White House before the end of the year, said the aides, who spoke in anonymity.
“I do not believe we should further reduce our sanctions, nor abstain from preparations to impose new sanctions,” Menendez, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said after Sunday’s interim agreement was announced.
The powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee echoed the call.
New sanctions are needed “so that Iran will face immediate consequences should it renege on its commitments or refuse to negotiate an acceptable final agreement,” the group said.
Imposing stiffer economic penalties against Iran enjoys wide support in Congress. President Barack Obama has pleaded personally with lawmakers to give him more time and room for diplomatic efforts. The interim agreement promises no new penalties against Iran while it is in effect.
Administration officials say new pressure from Congress now could prompt the Iranians to walk away from the deal and cause unrest between the U.S. and its negotiating partners in the so-called P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia.
