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.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
