Senate bill aims to fill 'loopholes' in 'disastrous' nuclear deal with Iran

Legislation introduced in the Senate to stiffen sanctions against Iran helps close loopholes in a six-country nuclear deal that lifted restrictions against the country, the leader of a political action committee (PAC) opposed to the deal said.

The Countering Iranian Threats Act was introduced recently by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators led by Tom Cotton (R-AR). The bill expands U.S. sanctions for ballistic-missile development, support for terrorism, and other Iranian actions. It also forbids transfers of conventional weapons to or from Iran, and extends the expiring Iran Sanctions Act.

"This bill helps close some of the gaping loopholes left by Barack Obama and his team of appeasers who signed a disastrous Iran nuclear deal without Senate approval," Doug Truax, founder of Restoration PAC, a national security-oriented political action committee, said. "I'm glad Senator Cotton is keeping the pressure on Iran as a counter weight to the administration's weakness."

The House passed other measures to counter the threat of Iran.

President Obama has threatened to veto any measures that seek to overturn the P5 + 1 nuclear deal with Iran, which began taking effect in January.

After the July 13 introduction of the bill into the Senate, co-sponsor Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) said the vast majority of the Senate wanted to see the Iranian deal before it was approved, and that this was one of the drivers for introducing the bill.

“We wanted to ensure that no president could waive sanctions and implement an international agreement without congressional approval,” Corker told the Washington Post. “Most Democrats agree that a president should not be able to do that.”

Cotton and Corker teamed up with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), along with Sens. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), to introduce the bill.

The P5 + 1 deal, signed in 2015 following nearly 10 years of negotiations with Iran by the U.S, China, France, Russia and Germany, lifted restrictions and sanctions against the Islamic Republic. It allows the country to return to the world oil market, sign trade deals, and have access to some $100 billion in cash that had been frozen by sanctions.

Obama said $400 million was delivered to Iran in January on the same day the deal was implemented, but it was revealed this week that it was delivered in cash by an unmarked plane on the same day Iran released four U.S. hostages.

The manner of its delivery, and the timing, coinciding with the release of the Americans, was condemned by critics of the deal.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) said in a statement that the delivery in cash by plane was "paying ransom to kidnappers." White House spokesman Josh Earnest said it is against U.S. policy to pay ransom money and described the cash delivery as part of the overall implementation of the deal.

The administration said the $400 million was Iranian money held in a U.S.-based trust to fund the purchase of U.S. military equipment in the 1970s, but the deal never happened.