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Menendez and Kirk Call on President Obama to Reinstate Suspended Sanctions Should Iran and Russia Violate the Joint Plan of Action


Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and U.S Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) wrote President Obama today asking him to put Iran on notice should they attempt to evade U.S. sanctions and violate the Joint Plan of Action.

In their letter, Menendez and Kirk write: “If Iran moves forward with this effort to evade U.S. sanctions and violate the terms of oil sanctions relief provided for in JPA, the United States should respond by re-instating the crude oil sanctions, rigorously enforcing significant reductions in global purchases of Iranian crude oil, and sanctioning any violations to the fullest extent of the law.”

The letter can be read here and below:

April 7, 2014

Dear Mr. President:

As the authors of the U.S. sanctions imposed on the Central Bank of Iran, we urge you to publicly affirm the consequences of any attempt by Iran to violate the Menendez-Kirk amendment and the Joint Plan of Action (JPA) during negotiations.

Under the JPA, your administration suspended further implementation of the Menendez-Kirk amendment’s requirement for countries to significantly reduce their imports of Iranian crude oil on the condition that Iran’s average daily crude oil exports remained constant over a six-month period.

Recent reports, however, suggest that Iranian oil sales have remained above one million barrels per day for five straight months. Even more alarming, Reuters reported last week that Iran and Russia are making progress toward a $20 billion barter arrangement that would breach the JPA and significantly undermine

U.S. sanctions by increasing Iran’s daily exports of crude oil by as much as fifty-percent.  We are further alarmed by reports that the barter agreement may provide for the transfer to Iran of items of significant value to Iran’s military and its nuclear program.

If Iran moves forward with this effort to evade U.S. sanctions and violate the terms of oil sanctions relief provided for in the JPA, the United States should respond  by re-instating the crude oil sanctions, rigorously enforcing significant reductions in global purchases of Iranian crude oil, and sanctioning any violations to the fullest extent of the law.

We urge you to put Iran on notice that United States is prepared to re-instate these sanctions should Iran attempt to evade our sanctions and violate the terms of the JPA.

Sincerely,

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez
U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk

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