Senators eye new sanctions against Iran

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) revealed plans Sunday to introduce legislation that would impose further economic sanctions on Iran, according to a Reuters report.

کد خبر: ۶۶۹۳۳۶

تاریخ: ۰۲ اسفند ۱۳۹۵ - ۱۰:۰۰

The Hill - Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) revealed plans Sunday to introduce legislation that would impose further economic sanctions on Iran, according to a Reuters report.

Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, mentioned the plans for increased measures during a panel discussion at the 2017 Munich Security Conference.

"I think it is now time for the Congress to take Iran on directly in terms of what they’ve done outside the nuclear program," Graham said.

Graham said he and other senators would be introducing a measure to hold Iran accountable for its actions, Reuters reported.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who participated in the same conference panel as Graham, said there will need to "be a conversation about what the proportional response is" to Iran's missile test.

"I don't necessarily think there's going to be partisan division over whether or not we have the ability as a Congress to speak on issues outside of the nuclear agreement," Murphy said.

Murphy, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also said the U.S. will have to decide its level of involvement in Iran.

"We have to make a decision whether we are going to get involved in the emerging proxy war in a bigger way than we are today, between Iran and Saudi [Arabia]," he said.

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalated after Trump sanctioned dozens of Iranian individuals and companies in early February, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif, who also attended the Munich Security Conference, said Iran doesn’t "respond well” to coercion and threats.

"We don’t respond well to coercion. We don’t respond well to sanctions, but we respond very well to mutual respect. We respond very well to arrangements to reach mutually acceptable scenarios,” Zarif said on Sunday, according to an AP report.

Graham blasted Iran, calling it a "bad actor” that's sending "mixed messages.”

"To Iran, I say, if you want us to treat you differently then stop building missiles, test-firing them in defiance of U.N. resolution and writing 'Death to Israel' on the missile. That's a mixed message," Graham said.