Chairman Howard Berman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in the United States announced on Thursday that legislation imposing new sanctions against Iran  is expected to pass within two weeks. The announcement came slightly less than a week after the Tehran government announced it was going to build new facilities for the enrichment of uranium. Berman believes that the pressure to be exerted on Tehran through the sanctions may prompt it to give up its nuclear aspirations.

Under the legislation companies that sell refined oil to Iran will not be able to do business with the US. Additional sanctions are expected to be directed at banks, insurance companies and other financial institutions doing business with Iran, including with Iran’s central bank.