US lawmakers approve tougher sanctions on Iran

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The House of Representatives moved Friday toward reinforcing sanctions against Iran as punishment for its alleged nuclear weapons program and support of international terror. The House legislation, approved on a voice vote, also would authorize state and local governments to divest assets of their pension funds and investments in companies that have invested more than $20 million in Iran's oil industry. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, a Democrat, said more meaningful sanctions were needed if Iran would not change its behavior as a result of incentives offered by the West. Past sanctions, he said, "have squeezed Iran's economy somewhat but clearly not enough to slow down its nuclear program." The vote comes on the same day that the UN Security Council, in a compromise worked out by the United States and Russia, issued a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear program but not adding to past sanctions imposed on Iran for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program. The United States, Britain and France had sought tougher sanctions but were opposed by Russia and China.