Measure would remove sunset clause from main tool in US law used to enact sanctions on Iran for its nuclear ambitions and support of terror.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the US House of Representatives, led by Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA), Committee on Foreign Affairs chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Rep. Susie Lee (D-NV), introduced a bill to make the measures established in the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 permanent.
The bill, cosponsored by 16 Republicans and 8 Democrats in the House, is a companion to similar Senate legislation introduced by Senators Tim Scott (R-SC), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
Steel noted in a press release that the provisions of the act are set to expire in 2026. The Solidify Iran Sanctions Act (SISA) would ensure that the US can “maintain critical deterrents” and “apply pressure to the Iranian regime to prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
“Iran has made clear it has no interest in participating in the international community or working towards peace. Iran brutalizes its own people, most recently conducting chemical attacks on thousands of schoolgirls,” Steel said. “The rogue state continues to make threats against democracy and actively sponsors terrorism around the world. Through this bipartisan, bicameral legislation, we can prevent Iran from possessing nuclear weapons and further jeopardizing global peace.”
McCaul described the Iran Sanctions Act as one of the most crucial tools the US government has to “compel Iran to abandon it’s dangerous and destabilizing behavior.”
The Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 allows the president to impose sanctions on Iran that restrain the regime’s ability to fund operations that endanger US military personnel, Israel, and Arab allies of the US. It places economic pressures on Iran’s energy sector to prevent the regime from acquiring the financial resources needed to support terrorism or further develop their nuclear weapons program.
“This bill takes the long overdue step of striking the arbitrary sunset from the law, so that sanctions will only be lifted if Iran stops its threatening behavior. Iran can’t run out the clock on US law,” McCaul said.
Lee added that despite efforts by the US and its allies to improve regional stability and cooperation in the Middle East, Iran has continued to support and export terrorism. The regime’s actions threaten “not only its neighbors, but global stability overall.”
“That’s why I’m joining Congresswoman Steel to introduce bipartisan, bicameral legislation to ensure the United States retains the full sanctions authority we need to protect Americans and our allies and to check Iran’s belligerent activities across the globe,” Lee said. “Regardless of political party, Congress must stand firm against the Iranian regime’s brutal repression of its own people, its funding of terrorism abroad, and its reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons.”
AIPAC spokesperson Marshall Wittman applauded SISA as a means to continue to maintain pressure on Iran.
“The Solidifying Iran Sanction Act is an important bipartisan effort to solidify critical sanctions on the Iranian regime at a time when Tehran is dangerously advancing its nuclear program and targeting US troops,” Wittman said.
United Against Nuclear Iran stated that the bill is necessary to continue to hold the Iranian regime to account for its rogue actions.
“We applaud Senators Scott, Hassan, Rosen, and Representatives Steel, Lee, and McCaul for reintroducing the Solidify Iran Sanctions Act. The threat posed by the Islamic Republic has no expiration date, and thus neither should U.S. sanctions on the regime. Eliminating ISA’s sunset is a key part of increasing American pressure on the regime,” the organization said.
Source: Arutz 7