US Senate committee to vote on Iran Thursday

The US Senate Banking Committee will put into vote on Thursday a legislation that would toughen sanctions on Iran over its nuclear work.

The sanctions would target Iran’s gasoline suppliers or those companies helping the country with its oil refinery industry, Reuters reported.

The sanctions would also affect the companies that build oil and gas pipelines in the country and provide tankers to move its petroleum.

Under the bill, the US government would also be banned from purchasing goods from foreign companies that are active in Iran’s energy sector.

To force Tehran to bow to US demands on its nuclear activities, Washington has been seeking to toughen sanctions on Iran.

The US Senate earlier approved a bill, according to which companies that continue to sell gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran will be banned from receiving US Energy Department contracts to deliver crude to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Iran only produces 60 percent of its domestic gasoline demand and imports the remaining 40 percent.

By cutting off Iran’s import of gasoline and other oil products, the US seeks to pile up pressure on Iran over its nuclear work.

The bill to go to vote on Thursday has other provisions among which is imposing a broad ban on direct imports from Iran to the US and exports from the US to Iran except for food and medicines.

The bill will also demand that the US government freeze the assets of Iranians who are active in the country’s nuclear program.

Iran rejects the allegation that its nuclear work has a military agenda and defends its nuclear program as solely peaceful and within the framework of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), to which it is a signatory.

Iran has been under US unilateral sanctions for nearly three decades.