U.S. Congressional Democrats are intensifying pressure on the Obama administration to hold Iran’s regime accountable for its testing of ballistic missiles, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Both supporters and opponents of the multinational nuclear accord with Iran’s regime say that to maintain U.S. credibility in enforcing the deal, the White House must move forward with sanctions on Tehran after two missile tests in the fall.
The administration in late December told lawmakers it planned to impose new financial penalties on nearly a dozen companies and individuals for their alleged role in developing the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile program. It then reversed course, saying it needed more time for diplomatic work with Tehran, but it hasn’t given a timeline for when they would be imposed.
“They ought to impose sanctions because we have to show we take this seriously,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) told The Wall Street Journal. “Iran is very destabilizing, very aggressive and very badly behaved and we have to do what we can to stop that.”
“We will issue those sanctions and those designations at the appropriate time. There’s no question about it,” Denis McDonough, the president’s chief of staff, said on Fox News Sunday.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote Wednesday on Republican legislation ensuring that as the administration eases sanctions on Iran’s regime under the nuclear deal, it doesn’t lift sanctions against individuals involved in the regime’s ballistic missiles program or terrorism. Many Democrats said they were reviewing the legislation.
“I’m hopeful that Democrats, even those who voted to support the president’s deal, will recognize we’re in a bad place” under the agreement, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) said.
Under terms of the nuclear deal, the U.S. committed to freeing as much as $100 billion in Iranian oil money frozen in overseas accounts as Tehran takes steps to roll back key parts of its nuclear program. But Iran’s regime has test-fired two ballistic missiles since the July agreement, one in October and a second in November, according to U.S. officials. A United Nations panel ruled in December that the October launch violated a U.N. Security Council resolution that bans the Iranian regime’s development of ballistic-missile systems.
Last week, seven House Democrats, including Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, urged President Barack Obama in a letter to sanction Iran’s regime for the missile testing.
“Inaction from the United States would send the misguided message that, in the wake of the [nuclear deal], the international community has lost the willingness to hold the Iranian regime accountable, for its support for terrorism and other offensive actions throughout the region” the Democrats wrote.
Rep. John Delaney (D., Md.), who supported the deal, has introduced legislation, backed by Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), aimed at making it easier for the U.S. president to issue sanctions on entities that buy or sell ballistic missiles from Iran’s regime.