Congressman Sherman Introduces Bill to Stop Iran's Nuclear Program Congressman Brad Sherman announced the introduction of the Stop Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Act
PoliticalNews.me - Oct 02,2010 - Washington, DC – Congressman Brad Sherman, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, announced the introduction of the Stop Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Act, H.R. 6296, to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran and its remaining business partners.
On July 1, President Obama signed into law significant economic sanctions against Iran. In the wake of the new American statute and a new round of U.N. sanctions, the European Union, Japan and other U.S. allies enacted tough trade sanctions against Iran, effectively barring their firms from developing Iran’s energy sector and reducing Iran’s access to the international financial system.
“Existing Iran Sanctions have had a significant impact on Iran’s economy, but have not achieved the ultimate goal of ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program. We must continue to enact tougher sanctions to isolate Iran economically and diplomatically, and we must act now,” said Congressman Brad Sherman. “With the enactment of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Divestment Act in July, Congress provided firm authorization for U.S. states to enact their own measures to divest from firms that do business in Iran. My legislation would provide similar authorization for states to refuse to contract for goods and services from such firms.”
Among other provisions, the Stop Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Act would definitively end the practice of American corporations conducting business with Iran through their foreign subsidiaries, sanction entities that provide loans to the government of Iran, sanction firms that prepay for future Iranian oil and gas deliveries, and reduce U.S. contributions to international institutions that provide loans or other assistance to Iran.
A longer summary of the Stop Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program Act is below.
Stop Iran’s Nuclear Program Act
Subsidiaries of U.S. Firms Conducting Business in Iran. Currently, the Iran sanctions regulations allow the foreign subsidiaries of American firms to conduct business in Iran that would be prohibited if conducted by the American firm, so long as no U.S. person and no one working at the American firm is involved. A number of U.S firms, most notably the Halliburton Corporation, have conducted business in Iran through their overseas subsidiaries. This provision would punish the U.S. parent entity for the activities of a foreign subsidiary that would violate current U.S. sanctions if they were conducted by a U.S. person – it would effectively end the Halliburton loophole.
Fighting the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corp. Provisions in the recently enacted Comprehensive Iran Sanctions Accountability and Divestment Act (CISADA) target the IRGC and other designated entities through a financial sanction – any financial institution that conducts business with them will have their business in the United States severely curtailed. This provision does not target commercial transactions with the IRGC and its affiliates; also, Treasury has designated only about 40 IRGC related entities, while we know that the IRGC operates its business and procurement operations through hundreds of fronts. The bill contains a provision that would require an expedited campaign at the Treasury Department to designate the hundreds of front
