Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010

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Sponsors: Rep. Howard Berman (H.R. 2194) (left) and Senator Chris Dodd (S. 2799) (right). Senator Evan Bayh sponsored the related (S. 908).

The Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (

U.S. Congress that applies further sanctions on the government of Iran
.

CISADA extended U.S.

economic sanctions placed on Iran under the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 and punishes companies and individuals who aid Iran's petroleum sector. This increased pressure is part of the larger campaign over the Iranian nuclear program, and aims to target Iranian dependence on imports for its gasoline needs.[1] The act was passed by the House (408–8) and Senate (99–0) on June 24, 2010[2] and signed into law by President Obama on July 1, 2010.[3]

Background

While Iran is the fourth largest oil exporter in the world and second in

Zhenhua, and Litasco.[7]
Besides those companies selling gasoline directly to Iran, IRPSA would target a number of other companies involved in the sector, including those aiding the Iranian refining industry, insurers, and shipping companies.

Despite the reliance on foreign suppliers, the

Masoud Mir-Kazemi said that Iran was preparing, if necessary, to produce an extra 14 million liters of gasoline per day to counter possible sanctions, matched with a 70-day domestic stockpile of gasoline and a future reduction in gasoline subsidies.[9] In September 2010, Iran said it had coped by converting at least two petrochemical plants to gasoline production, though it used a generally inferior process that initially produces benzene.[10]

The idea of reducing Iranian gasoline imports as a means of pressuring Iran was examined during the administration of President

presidential debate.[11]

Legislative history

A previous iteration of the bill, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009 (IRPSA) was introduced in the

Howard L. Berman and attracted 343 cosponsors. The move elicited responses from Iran, with a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry also said that "Sanctions and threats will not intimidate us and especially not affect our national will in following our rights".[12]

An August 2009 report in The New York Times stated that the proposal to target Iranian gasoline via companies involved had been discussed between Israeli officials and National Security Advisor James L. Jones as well as with allies in Europe.[11]

According to Rep. Berman, he will move the bill forward in October 2009 barring "some compelling evidence" not to do so; House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has stated that he would then bring it to the House floor.[13]

In the aftermath of the September 25 revelation that Iran had built a secret uranium enrichment facility near Qom, Berman reiterated his commitment to push IRPSA forward in October[14] and wrote an editorial in The Washington Post describing the sanctions and their purpose.[15]

On October 28, the bill was marked up in the

Christopher Dodd unanimously approved the Senate version of the bill;[17] in fact, the Senate bill passed was entitled the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2009 (S. 2799), which incorporated IRPSA provisions.[18]

In late November the Obama administration was reported to be preparing new sanctions against Iran, though one official who discussed IRPSA said that "'The problem with congressional measures is you can't turn them on and off as you like. ... We've been having ongoing discussions with the Hill,' to tailor the bills and slow them up."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee, asking him to temporarily delay the bill and outlining several concerns "including the lack of flexibility, inefficient monetary thresholds and penalty levels, and blacklisting that could cause unintended foreign policy consequences".[23][24]

On January 26, the AFP quoted Senate majority leader Harry Reid as saying that the Senate may find time to take up its version of IRPSA in the coming weeks.[25] Just two days later, Reid brought S. 2799 to the floor for a voice vote, and it was passed.[26] Right before passage Senator John McCain wished to add an amendment to target Iranians accused of human rights abuses, but Reid wanted to avoid a situation where other senators began introducing their own additional amendments. After the intervention of Senator Joe Lieberman, McCain relented with the assurance that his amendment would be included in the conference report.[27]

Letters signed by majorities in both Houses of Congress were to be sent to President Obama on April 19 urging him to quickly implement Congressional sanctions against Iran; the Senate–House conference for IRPSA was scheduled for that week.[28] On April 28 the first conference meeting took place.[29] Due to reported progress on the UN Security Council sanctions track and expectations that the EU would make further decisions on Iran in mid-June, conference co-chairs Berman and Dodd announced on May 25 that they did not intend to pass IRPSA until the second half of June.[30] After a new round of UN sanctions was approved on June 9, Berman reaffirmed his intention to bring IRPSA to a vote before the July 4 recess but after an EU meeting on June 16 and 17.[31]

Supporters and opponents

On September 10 the

J Street.[36] Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren released a general statement of support after the passage of H.R. 2194.[37] The Washington Post wrote in an editorial on February 13, 2010, that President Obama should sign IRPSA, stating that although "secondary sanctions are a blunt instrument... the threat of them might be needed to prod the Security Council or an ad-hoc Western alliance into taking steps that will break the Iranian regime's dangerous gathering of momentum."[38]

A report by

Larry Summers, in which they stated that such "unilateral, extraterritorial, and overly broad" sanctions would be counterproductive in the mission to stop Iran from achieving nuclear weapons.[40]

Provisions

Major provisions of H.R. 2194 as summarized by the Congressional Research Service:[41]

  • Amends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 to direct the President to impose two or more current sanctions under such Act if a person has, with actual knowledge, made an investment of $20 million or more (or any combination of investments of at least $5 million which in the aggregate equals or exceeds $20 million in any 12-month period) that directly and significantly contributed to Iran's ability to develop its petroleum resources.
  • Directs the President to impose: (1) sanctions established under this Act (in addition to any current sanctions imposed under the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996) if a person has, with actual knowledge, sold, leased, or provided to Iran any goods, services, technology, information, or support that would allow Iran to maintain or expand its domestic production of refined petroleum resources, including any assistance in refinery construction, modernization, or repair; and (2) sanctions established under this Act if a person has, with actual knowledge, provided Iran with refined petroleum resources or engaged in any activity that could contribute to Iran's ability to import refined petroleum resources, including providing shipping, insurance, or financing services for such activity.
  • Establishes additional sanctions prohibiting specified foreign exchange, banking, and property transactions.

See also

References

  1. ^ Lake, Eli (2009-04-28). "Senators push for business sanctions". Washington Times. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  2. ^ Cornwell, Susan (2010-06-24). "US Congress OKs sanctions on Iran's energy, banks". Reuters. Retrieved 2010-06-24.
  3. ^ Remarks by the President at Signing of the Iran Sanctions Act, The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, July 1, 2010.
  4. ^ "Iran faces global push towards more sanctions". Financial Times. 2009-12-15. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  5. ^ "FAQS – The Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act" (PDF). AIPAC. May 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  6. ^ "Iran Sanctions (Special Series), Part 1: The Nuts and Bolts". Stratfor. 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  7. Wall Street Journal
    . Retrieved 2010-06-19.
  8. ^ "Iran Energy Data, Statistics and Analysis". Energy Information Administration. February 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  9. ^ "Iran unveils new plan to counter fuel sanctions". Tehran Times. 2009-11-18. Retrieved 2009-11-19.
  10. ^ Iran Sanctions, Kenneth Katzman, November 9, 2010
  11. ^
    New York Times
    . Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  12. ^ "Iran ramps up rhetoric against sanctions". UPI. 2009-05-05. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  13. ^ Fingerhut, Eric (2009-09-10). "Berman: Ready to move ahead on Iran sanctions". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  14. ^ Kampeas, Ron (2009-09-25). "Pelosi, Berman on sanctions after Iran revelations". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 2009-09-29. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  15. ^ Berman, Howard L. (2009-09-26). "Dealing With Iran's Deception". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
  16. ^ Fingerhut, Eric (2009-10-28). "Iran sanctions clears House committee". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  17. ^ Saine, Cindy (2009-10-29). "Senate Panel Votes To Expand Sanctions Against Iran". Voice of America. Archived from the original on October 31, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  18. ^ "Senators Applaud Unanimous Passage of Iran Sanctions Legislation by Banking Committee". 2009-10-30. Archived from the original on 2009-11-03. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
  19. ^ Calabresi, Massimo (2009-11-30). "Obama Tries to Increase the Pressure on Iran". Time. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  20. ^ Bresnahan, John (2009-12-03). "House to vote on new Iran sanctions". Politico. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
  21. ^ Rozen, Laura (2009-12-15). "House Iran petroleum sanctions bill passes". Politico. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  22. ^ "U.S. House passes Iran gasoline sanctions bill". Reuters. 2009-12-15. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  23. ^ "Exclusive: State Department letter to Kerry outlines "serious substantive concerns" with Iran sanctions bill". The Cable. Foreign Policy. 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  24. ^ "Iran sanctions debate moves to the Senate". The Cable. Foreign Policy. 2009-12-16. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
  25. ^ "US Senate may act on Iran sanctions in 'weeks'". Agence France-Presse. 2010-01-26. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
  26. ^ Rozen, Laura (2010-01-28). "Senate passes Iran sanctions bill". Politico. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
  27. ^ Rogin, Josh (2010-01-29). "Iran sanctions bill benefits from Joe-mentum". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  28. ^ Johnson, Bridget (2010-04-17). "House Iran sanctions letter going to be sent to Obama on Monday". Blog Briefing Room. The Hill. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
  29. Politico
    . Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  30. Politico
    . Retrieved 2010-05-25.
  31. ^ Rogin, Josh (2010-06-09). "UN vote paves way for completion of Iran sanctions bill". The Cable. Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  32. ^ "ADL Joins Jewish Leaders in Raising Awareness of Iranian Threat During Daylong Fly-In to Washington, DC (press release)". Anti-Defamation League. 2009-09-10. Archived from the original on 2009-09-14. Retrieved 2009-09-10.
  33. ^ Harvey Morris (28 February 2010). "US lobbyists push for tough laws on Iran". Financial Times.
  34. ^ "Take Action". AIPAC. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  35. ^ Mullins, Anne Schroeder (2009-12-09). "Spam-a-Lot". Politico. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  36. ^ Fingerhut, Eric (2009-12-07). "J Street backs Iran sanctions resolution". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 2009-12-12. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  37. ^ Rozen, Laura (2009-12-15). "Berman: Iran sanctions bill empowers Obama". Politico. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  38. ^ "It's time for U.S. to consider targeting Iran's gas imports". The Washington Post. 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  39. ^ Goldfarb, Michael (2009-12-04). "The Export-Import Bank of the United States Goes to Bat for the Mullahs". The Weekly Standard. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  40. ^ Rozen, Laura (2010-01-26). "unilateral, extraterritorial, and overly broad". Politico. Retrieved 2010-01-31.
  41. ^ "CRS Summary of H.R.2194". The Library of Congress. 2009-04-30. Archived from the original on 2016-01-29. Retrieved 2009-09-26.

External links

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