The White House Calls for Changes to Iran and Russia Sanctions Bill

A senior White House official criticized some provisions approved in the Russia amendment to sanctions related to Iran, stating that the U.S. government intends to make changes to it. The Senate passed this bill with a very high majority, but it has faced obstacles in the House of Representatives. The bill and its attachment, which the Senate approved with a vote of '98 in favor - 2 against', includes sanctions against Russia in connection with allegations of 'interference in the U.S. elections' and other issues in addition to Iran. However, this bill has encountered barriers in the House of Representatives. Bob Corker, a senior Republican senator, stated on July 9 that there is no problem, and the only question is whether representatives intend to approve the sanctions against Russia or not. In the meantime, Mark Short, the director of legislative affairs at the White House, told reporters that the government supports the bill but opposes giving Congress much broader authority regarding its implementation. The U.S. Senate's resolution requires the President of the United States to seek congressional approval to reduce or end sanctions against Russia. Mr. Short stated, 'In our view, this law unusually grants decision-making on foreign policy to 535 members of Congress, without considering some exemptions related to national security, which have always been part of sanctions proposals.' The Axios website reports that the White House is concerned that the bill 'will tie Donald Trump's hands in negotiations with Russia.' Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and Donald Trump recently met in Germany; the first face-to-face meeting between the 45th President of the United States and Mr. Putin, which resulted in an agreement between the two countries to establish a ceasefire in southwestern Syria. On Sunday, the UN special envoy for Syria, who leads peace negotiations in Geneva, stated that the new ceasefire has been publicly maintained and could influence the negotiation process between Bashar al-Assad's government and his opponents. Mark Short told Axios, 'The bill is so poorly drafted that no government, whether Republican or Democrat, can comfortably implement it, as it broadly undermines the government's diplomatic efforts.' Protests against the new bill have a history. Last month, Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated that Mr. Trump needs to have flexibility to meet the needs of a diplomatic process. The Associated Press reports that officials from the U.S. State and Treasury Departments met last week with legislative affairs officials and expressed their 'concerns' about the necessity of obtaining congressional approval for reducing or halting sanctions. Senator Corker stated on Sunday that the government's resistance to congressional oversight of foreign policy is not unusual, but the need to review or reduce sanctions is 'very important.' Bob Corker also mentioned that some people from the government have contacted him and expressed that they do not want this bill to pass: 'This has never happened before.' Previously, at the beginning of July, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the new congressional sanctions pose a 'serious threat' to the relations between the two countries. Among the opponents of the new bill is the 'American Petroleum Institute,' the largest oil and natural gas trade organization in the country, which is concerned about the impact of the new sanctions on American companies.