Congressional Panel Agrees on New Iran Sanctions
U.S. lawmakers agreed Monday to impose new sanctions on Iran. Aimed at pressuring the Islamic Republic to abandon its nuclear program, the legislation targets financial institutions that do business with that nation’s central bank.
The sanctions, approved by the House and Senate armed services committees, are part of the sweeping Defense Authorization Act, which would fund the Department of Defense, and the national security initiatives of the Department of Energy, for Fiscal Year 2012.
The Obama administration had resisted sanctions aimed directly at Iran’s central bank, where much of that country’s oil revenues are held. Addressing White House concerns that such sanctions would drive up oil prices, the Congressional negotiating committee made changes to an earlier draft of the legislation. The new sanctions would penalize foreign institutions that do business with Iran’s central bank. But the bill also provides exemptions for nations working alongside the U.S. on issues related to Iran.
Congressional leaders said they hoped to pass the measure next week.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news the rest of 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Membership Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
