US takes step towards Iran oil sanctions
The United States moves towards imposing further sanctions on Iran in a bid to stymie any nuclear ambitions the country may have – days before the “moderate” Hassan Rouhani is sworn in as president.
The US House of Representatives overwhwelmingly voted in favour of a bill that would impose more severe oil sanctions on Iran – passing the proposed legislation by 400 votes to 20.
The bill, which will need to pass through the Senate and be signed off by Barack Obama before becoming law, would cut Iran’s oil exports by another one million barrels a day over the next year. It is a move designed to stem the flow of funds to Iran’s nuclear programme.
Obama’s administration is set to engage Iran in nuclear talks over the coming months. The US is concerned that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons – though Iran claims its nuclear ambitions are purely for civilian purposes.
It’s a dangerous sign to send and it limits our ability to find a diplomatic solution to nuclear arms in Iran. Jim McDermott, Democrat representative
Such a move is at odds with the sentiment coming from the White House. One senior official said the Obama administration is not opposed to new sanctions in principle, but wants to give Mr Rouhani a chance.
Following his election, Mr Rouhani said relations with the US were an “old wound that needs to heal”.
‘Dangerous sign’
Ed Royce, a California Republican and Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who introduced the bill with Eliot Engel, a New York Democrat, said the United States has no higher national security priority than preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.
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However Jim McDermott, a Washington-state Democrat and one of the 20 representatives to vote against the bill, said the rush to sanction Iran before Rouhani takes office could hurt efforts to deflate the nuclear issue.
“It’s a dangerous sign to send and it limits our ability to find a diplomatic solution to nuclear arms in Iran,” McDermott said.
Previous sanction by the EU and the US have reduced Iran’s oil exports by around a half. The US has lobbied the main impiorters of Iranian oil, such as China, Japan and South Korea, to find alternative sources.
Until now oil prices have remained stable, but there are also concerns that further sanctions on Iran could push oil prices up for US allies.