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APN Disappointed by Senate Passage of Iran Bill; Urges Responsible Amendments

Washington, DC -- Americans for Peace Now today expressed disappointment over the Senate passage of S. 2799, which includes the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act. APN urges House-Senate conferees to amend it to make it consistent with the national interests of the United States, with President Obama's foreign policy, and with a rational approach to Iran.
Washington, DC -- Americans for Peace Now today expressed disappointment over the Senate passage of S. 2799, which includes the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act. APN urges House-Senate conferees to amend it to make it consistent with the national interests of the United States, with President Obama's foreign policy, and with a rational approach to Iran.
   
APN President and CEO Debra DeLee commented, "We have argued from the start that this is bad legislation and the Obama Administration has made clear that it agrees.  If enacted into law in its present form, these sanctions will almost certainly be ineffective in pressuring the Iranian government and more likely will be counterproductive. It will hurt the Iranian public while having virtually no impact on the Iranian regime. Moreover, given the very dynamic political situation inside Iran, this legislation sends precisely the wrong message:  that Americans are ready to inflict misery on the Iranian people in a desperate effort to pressure their government.  This does not help pro-democracy forces."

DeLee urged that the bill be modified when members of the House and Senate meet to reconcile their respective versions of the legislation. "The House-Senate conference offers the last chance for Congress to do the right thing here: to amend this bill to make it consistent with a rational approach to Iran, with the national interests of the United States, and with the multilateral approach that is being pursued by the President of the United States.  They should not fail to do so."

Commenting on the surprise quick passage of the bill in the Senate, DeLee observed, "House and Senate members have been under tremendous pressure to pass this legislation.  The time is long past due for legislators to stand up to this pressure, as they repeatedly managed to do with respect to proposed Iran sanctions legislation under the Bush Administration.  It is time for legislators -- Democrats and Republicans -- to support the President on Iran -- not cave to efforts to tie his hands with sanctions that virtually every expert agrees make absolutely zero sense."

As APN has consistently made clear in the past, it does not oppose imposing sanctions on Iran. APN's opposition is to "crippling sanctions" that target the Iranian people rather than targeting Iran's regime. 


Americans for Peace Now is the nation's leading Jewish organization advocating for peace for Israel.

For more information, contact Ori Nir at onir@peacenow.org.