That’s the lead story from Ha’aretz today, whose plugged-in diplomatic correspondent Barak Ravid writes that, in meetings this week in Israel, National Security Adviser Jim Jones told the Israelis that the Obama administration has begun thinking about imposing tough new sanctions on Tehran, if the Iranians don’t respond to the administration’s outreach by the end of September. According to Ravid, “new sanctions would mainly aim to significantly curb Tehran’s ability to import refined petroleum products. Despite its huge crude oil reserves, Iran has only limited refining capacity, so it imports large quantities of refined products such as gasoline. Jones and his team reported that a bill by Senator Joe Lieberman to curb sales of refined oil products to Iran is almost complete, and 67 senators have already signed it.” The Lieberman bill in question is S. 908, which was the focus of a hearing yesterday in the Banking Committee. In fact, the bill now has 71 cosponsors. A source deeply involved in Iran policy tells the THE WEEKLY STANDARD that — absent a diplomatic breakthrough between now and September with the Iranians — the stars seem to be aligning for the Lieberman bill to surge forward once the Senate returns in September.
