Proposal would also apply to China and Russia for supplying weapons to Iran.
The largest package of sanctions in history is being prepared for Wednesday release in Congress. The massive legislative proposal addresses nations aiding or funding Iran’s nuclear weapons development program.
According to Representative Mike Johnson of Louisiana, the chairman of a partisan study committee and caucus, the Iran portion includes “the toughest sanctions that have ever been proposed by Congress on Iran.”
The legislative proposal specifically tackles some of the most challenging issues in U.S. foreign policy: contested American taxpayer aid to Lebanon and other Middle Eastern nations controlled by Iran, sanctions waivers that have kept Tehran’s nuclear program alive, and the 2002 authorization for use of military force in Iraq, seen as severely outdated given the rise of numerous new terror factions.
“We’re not doing this for messaging purposes,” Johnson said. “Many of these things we would expect and should be bipartisan because this is one of these issues that every person who looks at the situation objectively should agree to.”
If the arms embargo on Iran is not extended, Congress could play a central role in crafting new embargoes on the sale of weapons to Iran. This would include “new sanctions on the arms industries of countries like Russia and China that return to selling weapons to Iran, the banks facilitating any sale of weapons to Iran, and the companies shipping weapons,” according to the proposal.
Sweeping sanctions against Iranian shipping interests have gone into effect this week. According to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the action targeted “WMD proliferators and their supporters.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For members of Congress as they receive and prepare to debate the new proposed legislative package of sanctions.
- For President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, Secretary Mnuchin, and others dealing with existing sanctions as part of the president’s foreign policies.
Sources: Washington Free Beacon, Maritime Executive
