WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators said Monday that they have reached agreement on a new round of economic sanctions against Iran aimed at dissuading the Teh ran government from pursuing the development of nuclear weapons.
The latest proposed sanctions against Iran focus on disrupting exports of gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran and banning U.S. banks from doing business with foreign banks that provide financial services to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
The draft agreement, announced by Senate Banking Committee chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., comes on the heels of both international and U.S. moves to punish Iran for its refusal to abandon its nuclear program.
The legislation would add to existing sanctions by singling out for exclusion from U.S. markets entities involved in refined petroleum sales to Iran. It would also impose new penalties on foreign companies, including insurance, financing and shipping companies, that assist in developing Iran’s energy sector. U.S. banks would be banned from financial transactions with foreign banks that do business with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or aid Iran’s illicit nuclear program.
The measure would also provide a legal framework by which U.S. states, local governments and other investors can curtail investments in foreign companies involved in Iran’s energy sector.
Also Monday, Tehran said it had banned two U.N. nuclear inspectors from entering the country because they had leaked “false” information about Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s report stated that Iran announced in January that it had conducted certain experiments to purify uranium, which could theoretically be used to produce a nuclear warhead.
Iran then denied the experiments had taken place a few months later.
