Sen. Johnson said to make sure that if the talks fail, 'it was Iran that caused their failure.' Senate bill has new Iran sanctions

The Senate Banking Committee’s leaders have drafted a bill that would slap fresh sanctions on Iran and will pass the legislation if Tehran fails to follow through on its end of a temporary nuclear deal with global powers.

Crafted by Banking Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and ranking member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the bill will be moved “quickly” if Iran falls short of the parameters of a six-month temporary agreement that relieves about $6 billion in sanctions in return for a draw-down of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Johnson said. Johnson said at a Thursday Iran hearing he would also act on the bill if negotiations with Iran to secure a more permanent deal collapse.


Top administration officials sought to placate senators itching to move more quickly than Johnson. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said that total relief under the deal is a “modest fraction” of the approximately $100 billion in Iran’s holdings that are unavailable due to global sanctions. And Under Secretary of Treasury David Cohen portrayed Iran’s fiscal situation as chaotic and fatigued as a result of bipartisan sanction enforcement.

But Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) was undeterred, reading back to the officials past administration statements urging against a previous sanction bill. Menendez told Sherman and Cohen that previous successful efforts to slap penalties on Iran are “the things you all herald today as the essence of what got Iran to the negotiating table.”

But Menendez said perhaps the Senate should go even further than another round of sanctions, given the broad criticism against the administration for the terms of a deal that many believe will leave Iran with unacceptable nuclear capacity. That step would likely come in the form of a Senate resolution that defines what Congress can stomach as part of a permanent diplomatic deal with Iran.

“Maybe what the Senate needs to do is find the endgame and define what it finds acceptable,” Menendez said.

On a separate track from Johnson and Crapo, powerful Democrats like Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Menendez are teaming with Republicans like John McCain of Arizona and Mark Kirk of Illinois to work on a bill that would trigger new sanctions if diplomatic talks with Iran fall through. But Johnson said emphatically at a hearing on ongoing talks that he disagrees with such an approach.

“Some have argued that acting on a bill now, as long as it does not become effective in 6 months, gives the administration additional leverage in negotiations. The President disagrees, arguing that Congressional action on new sanctions would be taken as a sign of bad faith by our P5+1 partners and by Iran, and could erode or even unravel the sanctions regime,” Johnson said. “We should not do anything counterproductive that might shatter Western unity on this issue – we should make sure that if the talks fail, it was Iran that caused their failure.”

This article tagged under: Middle East

Senate

Iran