Skip to main content

Cohen Votes to Support Iran Sanctions Bill

June 24, 2010

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) today voted to support the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of 2010 (H.R. 2194) – legislation that would help persuade Iran’s leaders to halt their nuclear development program.

“The idea of Iran having nuclear weapons is scary,” said Congressman Cohen. “A nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat to America, the Middle East and the world. Sanctions are our best hope for maintaining a nuclear free Iran.”

The measure would strengthen the underlying Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) by imposing tough new economic penalties aimed at persuading Iran to change its conduct. Targets of the Act range from business entities involved in refined petroleum sales to Iran or support for Iran’s domestic refining efforts to international banking institutions involved with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Iran’s illicit nuclear program or its support for terrorism. The bill would augment the sanctions regime envisioned in the earlier versions of the Act passed by the House and the Senate by supplementing the energy sanctions in those versions with an additional, powerful set of banking prohibitions.

The Act would impose severe restrictions on foreign financial institutions doing business with key Iranian banks or the IRGC. In effect, the Act would present foreign banks doing business with blacklisted Iranian entities a stark choice – either cease your activities or be denied access to America’s financial system. The legislation would also hold U.S. banks accountable for actions made by their foreign subsidiaries.

For more information on the bill please visit the House Committee on Foreign Affairs by clicking here.


###