US Senate begins debate on Lindsey Graham’s sanctions bill targeting Russia and Iran
The US Senate has begun debating a bill to tighten sanctions against Russia and Iran introduced by the late Senator Lindsey Graham.
This was reported on social media platform X by Radio Liberty correspondent in Washington Alex Raufoglu, Censor.NET reports.
Senate debate begins
"The US Senate has officially begun debate on Lindsey Graham’s landmark sanctions package targeting Russia and Iran. A final floor vote could take place as early as today," the journalist reported.
In late July, US senators added financial sanctions against Iran to the bipartisan sanctions package targeting Russia, which they hoped to pass before the August recess.
More about the bill
Lindsey Graham’s bill enjoys significant bipartisan support in the US Senate and is regarded as one of the key instruments for increasing economic pressure on Russia. It is intended to reduce Moscow’s revenues from oil and gas sales and block routes used to circumvent sanctions through third countries.
The bill’s main provisions include:
- sanctions against Russia’s leadership, state-owned banks, energy sector and so-called "shadow fleet";
- authorising the US president to impose secondary tariffs of up to 100% on countries that continue purchasing significant volumes of Russian oil, gas and other energy resources. The original version proposed a rate of 500%, but negotiations reduced the maximum to 100%;
- allowing the president to temporarily delay the application of certain sanctions or tariffs if doing so serves US national interests.
