The Senate voted Thursday night to strengthen existing sanctions against and impose new ones aimed at its gasolinesupplies as part of the effort to dissuade Teheran from pursuing nuclear weapons and cracking down oninternal dissent.
"We have all watched the Iranian regime oppress its own people on thestreets of and continue to defy the international community on nuclear issues,"Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid said in a statement following a voicevote that approved the bill. "That is why it is so important that we movethis legislation forward quickly."