Defense News:
The US Senate will take up a 10-year extension of American sanctions on Iran after the US House overwhelmingly passed the measure, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday.
With the sanctions, lawmakers would signal to President-elect Donald Trump that whatever his foreign policy, they intend to take a hard line against Tehran. For his part, Trump has criticized the controversial Iran nuclear deal and promised on the campaign trail to renegotiate it. That’s a complex proposition, as it involves seven nations and was endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution.
“This bipartisan bill, which provides the basis for any sanctions which may be re-imposed on Iran, is critical given the belligerent behavior exhibited by Tehran since the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” McConnell said. “I expect we’ll pass it on an overwhelming bipartisan basis here too.
Supporters of an extension of the Iran Sanctions Act argue that extending it ensures that a “snap back” of sanctions adds leverage for Iran to abide by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), particularly as it exerts influence in Iraq, sends arms to rebels in Yemen and supports the group Hezbollah.
The White House has argued the extension is unnecessary because it has the ability to punish Iran under the JCPOA for any breaches, but there has been no veto threat. Tehran, however, has argued renewing the sanctions would nullify the JCPOA.
The extension applies to longstanding American sanctions that were intended to deter Iran’s illicit weapons programs and ballistic missiles development. Unless the Senate and president Obama approve an extension, they will expire at year’s end.
Senate Foreign Relations Chair Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told reporters Wednesday that next year he would introduce still more punitive measures against Iran, predicting he would have more support from more Democrats than he would have under a Democratic president.
There is a sense of freedom by many of them to push back against missile testing, conventional weapons purchases, those kinds of things,” Corker said….
