GOP Lawmakers Push Biden Admin to Implement New Iran Sanctions Laws

Four Republican lawmakers urged the Biden administration Sept. 19 to carry out two new Iran sanctions laws, both of which have deadlines that already passed.

In a letter to President Joe Biden, the lawmakers noted that the Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability (MAHSA) Act called for him to determine by July 23 whether Iran’s top leaders should be sanctioned for human rights abuses and support for terrorism. They also pointed out that the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act required the State Department to develop a strategy by Aug. 22 to counter China’s evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil.

“To date, we have not received any indication that your administration has followed through on these requirements,” the lawmakers wrote. “We urge you to immediately follow through on your legal commitments.”

The MAHSA Act and the SHIP Act were included in the FY 2024 national security supplemental appropriations bill that Biden signed into law in April (see 2404240043).

The letter was signed by Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch, R-Idaho; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Reps. Jim Banks, R-Ind., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, has raised similar concerns (see 2408140052).

A National Security Council spokesperson said in mid-August that the administration is “fully committed” to enforcing the new sanctions authorities included in the supplemental (see 2408150049). Biden formally directed his administration Sept. 13 to implement several new sanctions-related laws, including the MAHSA Act and the SHIP Act (see 2409160054).