Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday warmly welcomed a US House of Representatives decision imposing new, punishing sanctions on Iran.
Netanyahu said the move sent an important message that Iran will not get a period of grace because of Hassan Rouhani’s victory in the election.
“Following the Iranian elections, the House of Representatives has sent a clear message to the Iranian regime that international pressure will increase until Iran meets its obligations and ceases its pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. We will judge Iran by its actions alone,” the prime minister said.
The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday by a commanding 400-20 bipartisan majority to tighten sanctions on Iran’s petroleum sector. The move came just days before the inauguration of Rouhani on Sunday as Iran’s new president.
Sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said the congressional move was important because it was the first time an international body has stepped up the sanctions since Rouhani was elected to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June.
Netanyahu has called for the world not to “let its guard down” because of the election of someone perceived by some in the West as a “moderate, ” but rather to keep up intense pressure on Tehran.
“This is a message to the Iranians that they don’t get a year of grace, that words and smiles will not be enough, and that if they do not want sanctions upgraded, they will have to take tangible measures,” the sources said.
“The timing of this measure is crucial,” the sources added.
“These are the first serious measures taken after the election.”
The US Senate is expected to support the legislation – the toughest sanctions package to date, targeting what remains of Iran’s oil sector – once Congress reconvenes from its monthlong summer recess, sources told The Jerusalem Post.
The bill aims to bring Iranian oil exports essentially down to zero within a year from full passage.
Iran has already experienced a 60 percent decrease in oil exports since 2011 due to sanctions.
And yet, despite Western efforts to divorce Iran from its customers, the Persian state still exports more than a million barrels a day. Because of the high price of oil, Iran experienced its fourth best year on record for oil revenues in 2012.
Those remaining customers – companies concentrated mostly in China, South Korea, India and Turkey – will no longer be granted exemptions for their activities by the Treasury Department if Wednesday’s legislation becomes law.
Previously, for diplomatic reasons, these companies were given a pass. But the exemptions will expire after a yearlong grace period, during which Iran’s customers will face the choice of finding oil elsewhere or being cut out of the US economy
.