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US Senate to vote on new Iran sanctions

30 January 2012 11:28 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Konul Jafarli - APA. The US Senate Banking Committee is set to vote on legislation which calls for more economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran over its nuclear activities.

The Senate panel’s chairman, Democratic Senator Tim Johnson, and its ranking Republican, Richard Shelby, announced on Friday that the bill will be put to a committee vote on February 2, and the legislation has bipartisan support, Reuters reported.

"On February 2, we intend to move forward with a mark-up,â€ Johnson and Shelby said in their announcement.

"We must continue to do all we can -- diplomatically, politically and economically -- to counter the growing threat from Iran’s nuclear program," they said.

Among the provisions that American lawmakers are discussing in the Senate are penalties against Iran’s oil tanker operator, the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).

On December 31, US President Barack Obama signed into law economic sanctions against Iran’s Central Bank in an apparent bid to punish foreign companies and banks that do business with the Iranian financial institution.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of seeking to weaponize its nuclear technology.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.