Sweeping Iran sanctions to hit the House floor after drone attack on Israel

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The House is set to vote on sweeping sanctions on Iran and its proxies this week after the country’s sprawling drone attacks on Israel over the weekend.

Both Democrats and Republicans are pushing President Joe Biden to take a tough stance against Iran. House Republicans will meet on Monday night before the initial votes to discuss Iran’s attack and defence supplemental funding, Axios reports.

Iran sent 330 killer drones, ballistic and cruise missiles towards Israel on Saturday night. Israel says that 99 per cent were taken down before they could do major damage.

The Iranian strike came after an attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus which killed a number of the country’s top military officials.

The House is set to take more than a dozen votes on the issue this week. The proposed legislation would instruct the US to “fully implement” sanctions on the country.

The bills would also limit Iranian imports to the US as well as transactions between Iran and US financial institutions. They would also include sanctions on Chinese firms buying Iranian oil and take aim at groups designated as terror organisations by the US, such as Hamas.

Legislation to urge the EU to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terror group is also included in the group of bills laid out on Sunday, as is a bill designating the phrase “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as antisemitic.

A resolution put forward by New Jersey Republican Representative Tom Kean states that the House “stands with Israel as it … seeks to re-establish deterrence against Iran and its proxies”.

This appears to clash with Joe Biden’s position. The president urged Israel not to strike back against Iran, telling Israel to “take the win” considering the country sustained little damage from the strikes.

The bill in the House today states that Israel has a “right to respond to this aggression through military, diplomatic, economic, and other necessary means”.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in a statement that the new bills “demonstrate our support of Israel and take action against Iran,” Axios reported. He added that the resolutions “represent a comprehensive response to the Iranian threat by supporting Israel’s response to the attack and sanctioning Iran’s leaders, cutting off their revenue sources, and targeting their partners and terrorist proxies”.

The bills would each need a two-thirds majority to pass the lower chamber. Several do have a chance to do so, with bipartisan support under a House procedure known as “suspension of the rules”.

Less likely to pass are possible votes on bills including aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said that he will schedule a vote on Israel aid and possibly Ukraine aid.

Biden and other Democrats have pushed for Johnson to allow a vote on the Senate-passed $95 billion bill, which includes aid to Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine.

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