(Republicaninformer.com)- The capacity of the Biden administration to waive sanctions on Iran and allow a Russian energy business to earn billions by assisting the Islamic Republic in developing its nuclear program may soon come to an end.
As the Biden administration has repeatedly renewed a number of sanctions waivers that permit Russian work at Iranian nuclear sites, including those thought to be the location of the regime’s illicit nuclear weapons program, the alliance between Iran and Russia is shaping up to be a battle between congressional Republicans and the administration.
Senate Republicans believe they may have enough support to enact legislation making it nearly impossible for the Biden administration to continue renewing these sanctions exemptions.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R) of Texas said there is no justification for continuing to grant these exemptions, which permit Iran and Russia to collaborate on expanding Iran’s nuclear program. “Although these exemptions were extended in August, the Biden administration is still fixated on re-entering a nuclear agreement with the Iranian government,” the senator said.
The current iteration of the measure may receive bipartisan support due to a rising desire in Congress to punish Russia for using weapons produced in Iran in Ukraine, even though a prior version of the legislation failed to pass the legislative body during the last Congress.
The sanctions exemptions, most recently granted in August, have alarmed Republicans on Capitol Hill, who want to take more action against Tehran’s expanding partnership with Moscow.
This month, the exemptions of the sanctions are up for renewal once again, but the State Department won’t say if it will proceed with this choice.
The bill’s subject of the bill is the billion-dollar work being done by Russia on several Iranian nuclear installations, notably the current redesign and upgrade of Tehran’s Arak nuclear reactor. The law would also prohibit Russian work on Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium, a vital component in nuclear weapons.
The waivers of the sanctions date before the Biden administration. The Trump administration regularly provided them before being canceled due to legislative pressure. They are a holdover from the 2015 nuclear agreement, which sanctioned most of Iran’s nuclear activity with Russia.
The extension of these waivers, according to Noronha, “would give Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear company, a get-out-of-sanctions pass to build two new nuclear reactors in Iran—a contract worth $10 billion—while they have been assisting in the takeover of Ukraine’s two largest nuclear power plants.”
“The administration must behave like it if Biden is sincere about putting the failed nuclear agreement behind him and taking genuine action against Iran’s terror plots and nuclear extortion. It also applies to penalizing Russia,” Noronha said.
