New York, NY, August 2, 2012 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today welcomed President Barack Obama's Executive Order to expand sanctions on companies that help Iran sell its oil and looks forward to the passage of the Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Human Rights Act of 2012.

Robert G. Sugarman, ADL National Chair and Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

The Executive Order tightens the sanctions regime by threatening to punish those who would help Iran evade sanctions on its oil sales with transactions in gold or in cash.  The specific sanctions against Bank of Kunlun are significant, because it is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corp.  Sanctioning a Chinese bank related to a major Chinese company demonstrates that no one is off limits.

 

We hope these measures and similar ones in the new Iran sanctions bill will increase the pressure on Iran.  However, as Iran continues to enrich uranium and refuses to negotiate in good faith, bold action of a different order of magnitude will likely be necessary to change the strategic calculus of the Iranian regime. 

 

Compelling Iran to negotiate a verifiable end to their nuclear weapons program is the goal of the sanctions.  If that result is not achieved soon with these new measures, the President and Congress will need to act quickly to adopt sanctions that are more than incremental, crippling sanctions that are truly game-changers.