Congressional sources said efforts to pass the legislation, entitled
"Iran Sanctions
Enhancement Act of 2007," would be accelerated amid fuel riots in Iran. The
riots were sparked by a decision to increase the price of fuel and ration
gasoline.
Under the bill, U.S. sanctions could be imposed on any company or
individual
who provides or helps Teheran import refined petroleum resources. The
legislation could result in sanctions against gasoline brokers, tankers and
insurers.
"As Iran continues to defy the UN Security Council and International
Atomic Energy Agency, we need to explore new economic sanctions to augment
our diplomacy," Kirk, a member of the State-Foreign Operations
Appropriations Subcommittee, said. "Legislation targeting gasoline imports
offers the best way for IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] safeguards
to succeed."
Most of Iran's gasoline imports come from Gulf Arab states and India,
brokered
by the Dutch trading house Vitol. Most of the gasoline tankers to Iran have
been insured
by Britain's Lloyds of London.
"An international restriction on the supply of gasoline would serve as a
critical diplomatic tool to deny Iran the ability to further its efforts to
acquire nuclear weapons," Andrews said.
The Bush administration has not staked a position on the legislation.
But officials have raised the prospect that U.S. allies would ignore the
gasoline
embargo on Iran.
"We need to do everything that we can to continue to raise the stakes in
Iran in terms of its nuclear program," State Department spokesman Tom Casey
said. "We are in the process now of looking at what additional measures we
can add."
Iran has been rocked by more than a week of riots sparked by gasoline
rationing. Over the weekend, Iranian leaders defended the decision.
"The [gasoline rationing] plan's success depends on national
determination," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on June 29.
Teheran has also recruited top clerics to support the plan. In a
televised sermon, Ayatollah
Ahmad Jannati expressed support for rationing.
"The huge oil asset should be used for reconstruction," Jannati said.
