- Puts virtually all of Iran's energy, financial, and transportation sectors under U.S. sanction. Companies conducting business with Iran in these sectors face losing access to U.S. markets;
- Applies harsh sanctions designed to prevent Iran from repatriating any proceeds from its oil sales, thus depriving Iran of 80 percent of its hard currency earnings and half of the funds to support its national budget for education, health, food subsidies and other needed public purposes;
- Places more tough sanctions on the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC) and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC);
- Targets Iran's use of barter transactions to bypass sanctions, the provision of insurance to Iran's energy sector, and the provision of specialized financial messaging services to the Central Bank of Iran;
Click here to learn more about the legislation and how it is designed to increase pressure on Iran.
In its letter to Congressmen, designed to aid Mitt Romney, AIPAC writes: "America and our allies must unite in a
tough response to Iran's belligerent approach. We must continue to send a
strong message to Tehran that it will face unremitting pressure until it
complies with its international obligations and end its nuclear weapons quest. We
strongly support The Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act (H.R.
1905) and urge you to vote YES."
The letter is signed by the following AIPAC supporters of Romney: Howard Kohr, Executive Director, Marvin Feuer, Director, Policy & Government Affairs, and Brad Gordon, Director of Special Campaigns.
Learning what the Israeli lobby was attempting from its contacts at AIPAC, Obama campaign strategists moved fast and decided to have their candidate use his constitutional powers and undercut the Romney strategists toute de suite. Obama did and angered AIPAC and Republican leaders in Congress before the lopsided House vote on 7/12/12 when the White House quickly invited supporters of Israel to a media event at which the President issued an Executive Order which he explained included " Two major actions to further isolate and penalize Iran for its refusal to live up to its international obligations regarding its nuclear program and to hold accountable financial institutions that knowingly provide financial services to Iranian banks."
As a result of pre-empting AIPAC's H.R. 1905, and despite "feel good' further action by Congress on H.R. 1905, the Obama campaign says they gutted the AIPAC/Republican/Romney scheme while once more assuring Israel and its lobby of Obama's willingness to use all his Constitutional powers on Israel's behalf and to target its "existential threat" Iran.
According to two congressional insiders, the quick witted maneuver by the Obama campaign is a key reason their candidate currently leads in the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania while reminding the media that no presidential candidate since 1960 has won the White House without carrying two of these three states.
Meanwhile, Romney operatives are seeking alternative ways to convince Israel to maintain its support and cash for his campaign during the next nine weeks of what "Slick Jimmy" is calling, "American Democracy at work."
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