Iranian officials are slamming a freshly approved crop of congressional sanctions as a breach of the 2015 nuclear deal and have vowed to take reciprocal measures. But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are underscoring the need for penalties on Tehran and dismissing the recent rhetoric as par for the course.
Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed that the sanctions are “unquestionably” a violation of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but senators are unswayed.
“Predictable,” Maryland senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told THE WEEKLY STANDARD. “The Iranian response is similar to what they did when we extended the Iran Sanctions Act. It’s predictable. It has no degree of reality.”
The Senate agreed 98-2 Thursday to slap sanctions on entities involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program and levy terrorism sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The bill mirrors moves by the Trump administration to squeeze Iran for its ballistic missile program and human rights abuses while it conducts a comprehensive Iran policy review.
Cardin and others have said that the legislation, which punishes Iran for non-nuclear activities including human rights violations and ballistic missile testing, is consistent with the nuclear deal.
Other lawmakers also shrugged off Iran’s resistance to the bill.
“The Iranians never like sanctions, but if they don’t like them, then they should stop testing ballistic missiles in violation of U.N. resolutions,” said Connecticut senator Chris Murphy.
The Islamic Republic launched a ballistic missile strike against ISIS in Syria late Sunday. Iran’s parliamentary commission on national security declared that the strike “made it clear that the US Congress’s anti-Iranian bills are worthless” and that “Iran pays no attention to the Congress’s hostile bills,” according to Iranian media.
“That’s bluster,” said Idaho senator Jim Risch. “We’re going to continue to pursue the sanctions so long as they continue to violate U.N. resolutions.”
An IRGC spokesman also said this week that Sunday’s missile launch sends a message to America. The U.S. has a number of military bases in the region.
“The Saudis and Americans are especially receivers of this message,” said General Ramazan Sharif.
“Obviously and clearly, some reactionary countries of the region, especially Saudi Arabia, had announced that they are trying to bring insecurity into Iran.”
Texas senator Ted Cruz warned Tuesday that Iran and the potential for a nuclear Iran are “the single greatest national security threat facing America.”
“When the Ayatollah Khamenei pledges ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel,’ I believe him. I don’t think those are empty words,” he told TWS. “That is the threat of a religious zealot who leads a death cult, and has demonstrated for decades, being the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, that he’s perfectly willing to put action behind his hateful rhetoric.”
