Before the expiration of UN Security Council sanctions, Congress is discussing a new bill imposing sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program

Senator Bob Menendez, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Senator Bill Hagerty introduced the Missile Sanctions Act, a bipartisan bill aimed at imposing American sanctions on Iran’s missile and unmanned aerial vehicle programs.

Urgent Legislation

According to the London-based newspaper “Middle East,” this move comes as Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed Congress, accusing Iran of “spreading hatred, danger, and terrorism in the Middle East and openly calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”

Menendez and Hagerty stated that the looming end of the major restrictions imposed by the UN Security Council on Iranian ballistic missiles and drones “confirms the need for this urgent legislation.”

The proposed law would codify sanctions on Iran’s missile and drone programs under Annex B of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, ensuring that Iran’s destabilizing missile development and ballistic missile technology proliferation remain subject to appropriate US sanctions if Russia and China block the extension of UN restrictions in the Security Council.

Menendez said, “Iran will not stop developing missile and drone programs, and it will not stop providing this dangerous technology to its proxies and Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine.”

Iranian Threats

Menendez added, “It is of the utmost importance that our sanctions policy reflect that reality if the UN restrictions imposed in October come to an end. The United States must continue to curb the proliferation of missiles and drones in Iran.”

He called on the United States’ allies and partners to “join us in addressing the threats posed by Iran’s ballistic missile program.”

Hagerty stated, “The Iranian regime, a sponsor of terrorism, continues to violate the international ban imposed by the UN Security Council on exporting ballistic missiles, drones, and other destabilizing weapons to foreign entities without consequences.”

He added that “this bipartisan legislation imposes long-term sanctions on any individual, entity, or foreign government engaged in activities related to Iran’s ballistic missiles, drones, and other destabilizing weapons—even if the UN Security Council’s irresponsible expiration of the international ban occurs in October 2023.”