U.S. Senate votes to tighten sanctions on Iran

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Senate unanimously voted to tighten sanctions on Iran on Monday, May 21, three days after a dispute over whether to include the threat of American force stalled the legislation, CNN reported.

The new sanctions would target Iran's oil and banking industries, as well as other sectors. The measure passed the Senate on a voice vote Monday evening, two days before a new round of talks between Iran and leading UN members in Baghdad.

Passage came after senators agreed to add language warning that military force would be an option available to the United States if Iran seeks to build a nuclear weapon. But the measure also states that nothing in the legislation authorizes military action.

Iran has insisted that its production of enriched uranium is meant to fuel civilian nuclear power plants, and U.S. intelligence believes any previous weapons-related research was halted in 2003. But the Islamic republic has refused international demands to halt its nuclear fuel program, and the UN nuclear watchdog agency said in November that it was up to Iran to demonstrate the peaceful nature of its atomic research.