Ros-Lehtinen says House will push for tougher Iran sanctions bill with Senate

{mosads}The Senate bill, S. 2101, says the United States will pursue all options to keep nuclear weapons out of Iran, encourages multilateral sanctions against Iran and expands U.S. sanctions to companies that participate in petroleum resource development in Iran.

The Senate bill would also require government contractors to certify that they do not deal with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and require reporting on transfers to Iran that are likely to be used for human rights abuses.

House members could press the Senate for sanctions against Iran’s central bank, similar to language the House approved in the Iran Threat Reduction Act, H.R. 1905, in December.

Ros-Lehtinen on Tuesday also criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for reaching a tentative inspection agreement with Iran that she said relies on “empty promises.”

“I am deeply concerned that the so-called agreement reached between Iran and the IAEA will only be used as yet another stalling tactic to afford the Iranian regime greater time to acquire nuclear weapons capabilities,” she said.

“It’s déjà vu all over again,” she added. “It has been 10 years since Iran’s covert nuclear program was discovered by the IAEA after decades had gone by when the regime successfully hid its nuclear activities from the world. It has been 10 years of manipulation by Tehran of international inspections. And for decades, the regime has ignored its international obligations.”