NCRI – The U.S. House of Representative approved tough new sections targeting the Iranian regime oil sector and other industries.
The bill that blacklists any business related to the Iranian regime’s construction and mining sectors commits the U.S. to the goal of ending the Iranian regime oil sales worldwide by 2015.
The bill easily adopted in 400-20 vote would cut the Iranian regime’s oil exports by another 1 million barrels per day over a year.
This is the first sanctions bill by the U.S. House of Representative to put a number on exactly how much the regime’s oil exports should be cut.
“We believe crippling sanctions are a key part of the pressure we put on Iran,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters Wednesday.
U.S. Congressman Steve Pearce a cosponsor of the bill H.R. 850, the Nuclear Iran Prevention Act of 2013 has said: “Iran continues to act with blatant disregard for human rights, safety, and the international community”.
“Today’s legislation, which I strongly support, addresses the plight of the countless human beings facing mistreatment, torture, and martyrdom within the country, as well as the threat Iran poses on a global scale should it be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons. We must never hesitate to stand against evil in any of its forms, and today’s legislation is a much-needed first step against a threat that is all too often ignored,” he said.
H.R. 850, imposes additional economic and financial sanctions on Iran related to human rights and terrorism. It directs the Secretary of State to determine whether Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps meets the criteria for designation as a foreign terrorist organization.
It also directs further strong economic and financial sanctions with respect to human rights abuses in Iran, including restrictions on sales of commodities and financial transactions with the Iranian regime.
The bill excludes from such sanctions a transaction for the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine or medical devices to Iran.
Further, the legislation directs President obama to submit a report within 60 days on Iran’s nuclear program, and to develop a National Strategy on Iran to address threats posed by the Iranian regime.
Nuclear Iran Prevention Act of 2013 – Expresses the sense of Congress regarding the imposition of sanctions on certain Iranian regime’s officials responsible for, or complicit in, human rights abuses, diversion of food and medicine, and censorship.
It directs the U.S. President to impose specified sanctions on a foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitated a significant financial transaction on behalf of any person directly or indirectly owned or controlled by an Iranian person included on the list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons maintained by the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The measure still has to be passed in the Senate and signed by President Obama before becoming law. The Senate Banking Committee is expected to introduce a similar bill in September.
