The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Thursday welcomed the Senate's passing of a bill imposing new sanctions on Iran.
"Today's action by the Senate, passing the Countering Iran's Destabilizing Activities Act with 98 Senators in favor, is an important step toward curtailing Iran’s ability to fund the development of ballistic missiles, limiting its capacity to destabilize the region through support for terrorist groups and holding Iran responsible for gross human rights violations against its own people,” said Stephen M. Greenberg, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Conference of Presidents.
“The overwhelming bipartisan consensus in the Senate for additional sanctions against Iran’s non-nuclear activities reflects American resolve to exert pressure on Iran to end its belligerent and provocative activities which threaten our national security, the security of Israel and the entire Middle East region,” they added.
“We urge the House to demonstrate the same kind of bipartisan support to provide the administration with the tools needed to rein in Iran’s malign behavior.”
Earlier on Thursday, the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to impose financial sanctions on Iran and Russia by a vote of 98-2.
The sanctions on Russia serve as punishment for alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. The bill imposes sanctions on a number of important sectors of the Russian economy, such as mining, metals, shipping and railways. Individuals believed to have carried out the alleged cyber-attacks on behalf of the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin were also targeted.
The sanctions on Iran target individuals involved in the Islamic Republic's ballistic missile program, as well as anyone who does business with them. In addition, the resolution applies sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization and calls for the enforcement an arms embargo against the organization.
The bill does not impose sanctions on Iran's nuclear weapons program in compliance with the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.