Global Security Newswire

Cutting Iran off from a projected $100 billion in funds held outside its borders is the stated aim of a U.S. Senate bill submitted on Wednesday in a new effort to pressure the Middle Eastern nation over its suspected pursuit of a nuclear arms capacity, the New York Times reported.

"Closing the foreign currency loophole in our sanctions policy is critical in our efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability," five Democratic and Republican senators said in a joint statement. The measure could become the first significant set of economic penalties imposed since an April multilateral meeting between Iran and six world powers failed to yield substantial progress toward addressing the atomic standoff, the newspaper said. Tehran insists its nuclear ambitions are nonmilitary in nature.

The bill would punish financial entities found to be providing foreign exchanges for the Iranian central bank or other Iranian organizations that have been hit with punitive economic measures.

“The strong support the bill enjoys from Senate Democrats demonstrates that Congress does not accept the argument advanced by some that pressure should be relieved,” Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The legislation would cut Tehran off from roughly 33 percent of its monetary assets in other countries, backers said in a Wednesday Los Angeles Times report.

The Obama administration is reviewing the legislation, but existing penalties are having their intended effect, White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said.

The Treasury Department on Thursday announced new steps aimed at preventing Tehran from skirting penalties, including imposing sanctions on the Iranian Venezuelan Bi-National Bank. The State Department issued sanctions against four firms and one person in a related move on Thursday.