Biden Admin ‘Fully Committed’ to Enforcing New Iran Sanctions, Spokesperson Says

The Biden administration is pushing to implement the new Iran sanctions authorities that Congress approved four months ago, a National Security Council spokesperson said Aug. 15.

“We are fully committed to enforcing the Iran provisions of the supplemental,” the spokesperson said, referring to the FY 2024 national security supplemental appropriations bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in April (see 2404240043). The administration is “working hard” to delegate the law's new authorities to the appropriate agencies.

The spokesperson also defended the administration’s record on Iran sanctions, saying it “has not hesitated to hold Iran accountable for its dangerous and destabilizing behavior, and as a result has imposed over 700 sanctions on Iran. We continue to enforce our sanctions and take further actions, including through new sanctions, to hold Iran accountable.”

The spokesperson’s comments came a day after House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, urged the administration to move more quickly to implement the new sanctions authorities to counter the threat posed by Iran and its proxies (see 2408140052).

Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., said last month that the administration missed a late-July deadline for assessing potential sanctions under his Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability (MAHSA) Act, one of several Iran sanctions bills included in the supplemental. The MAHSA Act calls for sanctioning Iranian leaders for human rights abuses and support for terrorism.