WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, co-sponsored the Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act of 2021, a bill that would enable Congress to approve—or block—any Administration effort to suspend or terminate U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime. 

“President Biden rightfully ordered an airstrike on an Iranian-backed militia that targeted American troops, underscoring the fact that Iran is the world’s top state sponsor of terrorism,” said Senator Tillis. “At the same time, this raises questions why the administration is attempting to resurrect the failed Iran nuclear deal. Iran still needs to be treated like the terrorist regime they are, and Congress should vote before any sanction relief is granted.”

Even as the Iranian regime continues to support terrorism, regional militancy, missile proliferation, cyber-attacks, and other forms of aggression—including rocket attacks by Iran-backed militias targeting U.S. forces in Iraq—the Biden Administration last week indicated that it wants to negotiate with Tehran to relieve sanctions on the Iranian regime and reenter the flawed nuclear deal. This legislation builds on the precedent of a 2017 bipartisan law that empowers Congress to vote to support or block Russian sanctions relief and applies identical congressional review procedure to any future Iran sanctions relief. In effect, this legislation would prevent the administration from rolling back sanctions in exchange for advancing negotiations or reentering the deal without first securing strong congressional support.

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