Senate Committee Approves New Sanctions On Iran’s Missiles

Iran missiles Image by Getty Images

By Ron Kampeas May 26, 2017

WASHINGTON (JTA) – A key Senate committee approved new sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missiles program after amending clauses that critics said could scuttle the Iran nuclear deal.

On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill by a vote of 18-3. It was backed by the committee’s two leaders, Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman, and Sen. Ben Cardin, its top Democrat.

Backers insisted that the bill would not affect the 2015 deal struck by the Obama administration trading sanctions relief for rollbacks in Iran’s nuclear program. That deal did not include missile sanctions.

However, parts of the text were amended after Adam Szubin, the top Obama administration official handling sanctions, warned that they could be interpreted as violating the deal.

Szubin, who is respected by both parties, maintained tough non-nuclear sanctions on Iran after the deal was in place.

Subsequently, language was removed that would have sanctioned individuals and entities who “pose a risk” of materially contributing to the missile program, an ambit that critics said was too broad. The language now sanctions those who have already “materially contributed” to the program.

The bill’s consideration comes as Iran reportedly has built a third underground factory to manufacture ballistic missiles.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

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 Fundraising 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