Just a few minutes ago the Senate Banking Committee began what should be an interesting hearing on options for economic and financial sanctions against Iran. Pressure in Congress at last seems to be building for the kind of tough-minded actions that, just a few months ago, seemed unlikely — spurred by a combination of the regime’s brutal crackdown against its own people in the wake of the June 12 election and its disregard for the Obama administration’s offer of dialogue. Last week, notably, the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution that told the President to impose “crippling sanctions” on Iran if the regime doesn’t start negotiating seriously by the time of the G-20 summit in early September, or if they don’t suspend all enrichment and reprocessing activities within 60 days thereafter. Today’s hearing — which is being convened by Senator Evan Bayh — is likely to focus in particular on S. 908, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act. The bill would revise the 1996 Iran Sanctions Act to impose sanctions on the handful of companies involved in selling refined petroleum products — i.e. gasoline — to Iran, thus going after an Achilles Heel of the regime. S. 908 was introduced earlier this year by Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, and Jon Kyl, and — as of this morning — has secured a staggering 71 cosponsors. Senate insiders expect that, in the absence of significant diplomatic progress, there will be a big push come September to pass this measure into law.
