US House Moves To Make 1996 Iran Sanctions Permanent
The Foreign Affairs Committee of US House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution to make some punitive measures against Iran permanent.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of US House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution to make some punitive measures against Iran permanent.
The bipartisan bill called Solidifying Iran Sanctions Act of 2023, has the potential to make the 1996 sanctions against Iran – or several other measures -- permanent by deleting the 'sunset clause' in any action against the Islamic Republic, a provision that provides an expiry date for a measure.
The bill, now heading to a full vote on the House floor, strikes a section from the 1996 legislation that set 2026 as the sunset date, making permanent sanctions against the regime that are designed to slow down research and development of nuclear and biological weapons as well as preventing terrorist actions against Washington and its allies.
The 1996 law requires the imposition of sanctions with respect to Iran’s illicit weapons programs, conventional weapons and ballistic missile development, and support for terrorism, including Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, read part of the bill.
"This bill takes the long overdue step of striking the arbitrary sunset from the Iran Sanctions Act, so that sanctions against the regime will only be lifted if Iran stops its threatening behavior," the House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) said. Representatives Michelle Steel (R-CA) and Susie Lee (D-NV) helped bring political support for the Solidifying Iran Sanctions Act (SISA).
"By making these sanctions permanent, the US is signaling to Iran that we won't tolerate their continued aggression and to our allies that they must also increase their pressure on the [rogue] nation," Steel said.
"Iran’s evil regime has proven they cannot be trusted to negotiate in good faith," Steel told Fox news, adding, "Only through strength can we show the path to peace, end their brutal attacks on their own people, and prevent a nuclear Iran."
Lee said the bipartisan bill "is one step closer to becoming law and keeping Iran in check," adding, "Regardless of political party, Congress must stand firm against the Iranian regime’s brutal repression of its own people, its funding of terrorism abroad, and its reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons."
The 1996 sanctions are distinct from a series of sanctions that the Trump administration imposed in 2018 and 2019 against Iran's oil exports and international banking. However, Trump based his sanctions partly on the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996. Whether this can potentially hinder any attempts by the Biden administration to reduce the more recent sanctions in a deal with Iran is not clear.
In an interview with Iran International’s Arash Alaei, Representative Keith Self (R-TX) said, "We must deter Iran, first of all, in their nuclear program, as a nuclear war is not something you can even contemplate. And second, we must encourage the Iranian people to rise up against the regime."
Alaei says that Democrats are reluctant to comment on the measures against the Islamic Republic due to a lack of comprehensive Iran policy by the Biden administration.
Criticizing the Biden administration, Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) told Alaei that reports about impending deals to unfreeze the regime’s assets in Iraq or South Korea indicate that the administration is following a policy of appeasement with Iran, and “all the bad actors” like China, North Korea and Russia.
“What we shouldn’t do is weaken our position with Iran... we should we projecting strength,” he said.
“The Albanian State Police have assured us that all actions were conducted in accordance with applicable laws, including with regard to the protection of the rights and freedoms of all persons in Albania,” read a statement issued on Tuesday.
Having found itself in quite a precarious predicament after dozens of Iranian dissidents seeking safe haven in Albania were reportedly injured Tuesday and one allegedly died in the raid, the State Department said it has been "assured" the Albanian government did not violate any human rights.
The State Department, which usually does not keep silent about such actions, and especially not against a group known to be active against the Islamic Republic, not only did not condemn the unexpected raid, but also distanced itself from the dissident group, raising concerns about the group’s actions against its own members.
"The State Department continues to have serious concerns about the MEK as an organization, including allegations of abuse committed against its own members,” noted the statement.
The State Department, however, pointed to the Albanian police accusations that the inhabitants of the camp were involved in cyberattacks against the Albanian government, adding, “We support the Government of Albania’s right to investigate any potential illegal activities within its territory."
Emphasizing that Washington does not view the MEK as “a viable democratic opposition movement that is representative of the Iranian people,” the State Department said, “The US government does not provide support or training to the MEK, does not contribute funding to the organization, and does not maintain substantive contact beyond issues related to the MEK’s resettlement, which was completed in 2016.”
Earlier on Tuesday, MEK said about a thousand Albanian police officers raided the group's exile center, Camp Ashraf, using tear gas and pepper spray. The group said that one of their members, identified as Ali Mostashari, was killed and more than a hundred others injured.
Despite initial denials, Albanian Interior Minister Bledi Cuci and the head of the national police, Muhamet Rrumbullaku, said both police officers and Iranian dissidents were injured during the raid at the Ashraf-3 camp near Manze, a small hill-town 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) west of Albania’s capital. However, the authorities disputed that the raid caused the man’s death.
Alleging that the attack was instigated by the Iranian regime, the MEK claimed that the actions by the Albanian police are “reminiscent of the criminal attacks by forces of Nouri al-Maliki (former prime minister of Iraq) on the original Camp Ashraf in Iraq between 2009 and 2015.”
Camp Ashraf 3 compound in Durres, Albania, is MEK's first home outside the Middle East established a few years after the 2013 massacre in the original Camp in Iraq in which 52 members died and seven went missing, leading to the relocation of the group.
In September 2022, Albania severed its relations with the Islamic Republic and expelled all Iranian diplomats and embassy staff following an investigation into a large-scale cyberattack that targeted the country’s infrastructure in July. The attack happened around the time of a conference held by the MEK.
The Tuesday attack against the de facto headquarters of the MEK took place about a month after the MEK-affiliated hacktivist group Uprising till Overthrow breached into 120 servers of the Iranian presidential office, getting access to internal communications, meetings minutes, and leaking troves of confidential data.
The group said on Tuesday that one of their members, identified as Ali Mostashari, was killed and more than a hundred others injured, with some hospitalized in critical condition after police raided the camp using tear gas and pepper spray. The group alleged that the attack was instigated by the Iranian regime.
Albanian authorities denied any loss of life or injuries, claiming that the incident happened due to the group’s refusal to cooperate with the police.
“This morning around 1,000 Albanian policemen attacked Ashraf in a criminal and suppressive onslaught,” the group said in a statement, adding: “They broke many doors, closets, and equipment and attacked the residents with tear gas and pepper spray. Many computers were broken or taken away.”
The MEK claimed that the actions by the Albanian police are “reminiscent of the criminal attacks by forces of Nouri al-Maliki (former prime minister of Iraq) on the original Camp Ashraf in Iraq between 2009 and 2015.”
According to Albanian local media, the raid was carried out following a decision by the country’s organization of Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO) at Ashraf 3 and Ashraf 4 camps in Manzë town, in the city of Durrës, where the group has been in exile since 2014, settling in Albania for humanitarian purposes.
Albania’s police said it had suspicions that there may be people in the premises involved in cyberattacks against Tirana as well as criminal “acts of larger dimensions.”
The country’s Ministry of the Interior defended the raid, calling it a 'check' and saying that it complied with state laws.
The suspected perpetrators of the cyberattacks, who are being interrogated following their apprehension, are believed to be infiltrators of the Islamic Republic regime, Albanian Daily News reported. According to the news website, leaders of the camp had reported on several occasions that they suspected regime infiltrators among them.
The police also said that the operation followed a request by the organization for permits to hold an event inside the camp on July 1 as a measure to prevent any risks. The Tuesday incident came a day after Reuters reported that France banned an upcoming MEK rally over the risk of an attack.
In September 2022, Albania severed its relations with the Islamic Republic and expelled all Iranian diplomats and embassy staff following an investigation into a large-scale cyberattack that targeted the country’s infrastructure in July. "This extreme response...is fully proportionate to the gravity and risk of the cyberattack that threatened to paralyze public services, erase digital systems and hack into state records, steal government intranet electronic communication and stir chaos and insecurity in the country," Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said at the time.
The attack happened around the time of a conference held by the MEK. In early August, cybersecurity firm Mandiant expressed “moderate confidence” the attackers were acting in support of Tehran’s efforts to disrupt the MEK conference, which had to be cancelled as well due to a terror threat.
In its report, the company said that several factors reveal that the attack was carried out by pro-Iran hackers, including the timing, the content of a social media channel used to claim responsibility, and similarities in software code used with malware long used to target Farsi and Arabic speakers.
The July 2022 conference by the dissident group, titled The Free Iran World Summit, was canceled following warnings from local authorities of a possible terrorist threat. Several US lawmakers were also among the invitees.
MEK, a revolutionary organization with a Marxist-Islamist ideology emerged before the Iranian revolution in 1979 and for a time supported the new Islamist government in Tehran. But soon the ruling clerics decided they would not tolerate leftists and other organizations remaining active and launched bloody repression. MEK was exiled and many found refuge in Iraq under Saddam Hussein who helped them continue their fight against the government in Tehran.