“We are looking at ways of having a much stronger pushback on the violations that took place,” Republican Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said of his proposed sanctions, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Also, Senator Bob Menendez announced earlier that he is planning a package of “actions that we should be considering against Iran outside the nuclear portfolio.”
The measures, which are expected to come up in February, will be the Congress’ latest attempts to press President Obama to punish Iran over its missile tests.
In January, the White House postponed a series of financial sanctions planned by the Treasury Department against individuals in Iran, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates following Iran’s missile testing in October and November.
Iran has repeatedly announced that test of missiles is an issue relating to defense of its territorial integrity and has nothing to do with the JCPOA, the nuclear agreement with the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Iran has also underscored frequently that its military might poses no threat to other countries and that the Islamic Republic’s defense doctrine is entirely based on deterrence.
Both Corker and Menendez, along with every Senate Republican and three other Senate Democrats, opposed the Iran nuclear deal when the Congress voted on it in September last year.
On January 16, implementation of the deal between Tehran and world powers was officially started and all nuclear-related anti-Iran sanctions were terminated.