III 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 72 

Opposing the lifting of sanctions imposed with respect to Iran without addressing the full scope of Iran’s malign activities, including its nuclear 

program, ballistic and cruise missile capabilities, weapons proliferation, 

support for terrorism, hostage-taking, gross human rights violations, 

and other destabilizing activities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 24, 2021 

Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. HAWLEY, 

Mr. CRAMER, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Mr. SASSE, 

Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. DAINES, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. BARRASSO, 

Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. TUBERVILLE, Mr. BLUNT, Mr. 

THUNE, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. 

LANKFORD, and Mr. CRAPO) submitted the following resolution; which 

was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Opposing the lifting of sanctions imposed with respect to 

Iran without addressing the full scope of Iran’s malign 

activities, including its nuclear program, ballistic and 

cruise missile capabilities, weapons proliferation, support 

for terrorism, hostage-taking, gross human rights violations, and other destabilizing activities. 

Whereas the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (commonly 

referred to as the ‘‘JCPOA’’), an agreement that was finalized by the administration of President Barack Obama 

and the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, 


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•SRES 72 IS 

France, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian 

Federation in July 2015, provided Iran permanent sanctions relief and access to more than $100,000,000,000 in 

return for temporary restrictive measures on Iran’s nuclear program; 

Whereas, under the JCPOA, restrictions on the number and 

types of centrifuges that Iran may manufacture, retain, 

test, and use, the number and types of enrichment facilities that Iran may construct, and the amount and level 

of enriched uranium and heavy water that Iran may 

stockpile, will expire; 

Whereas multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010 required Iran to 

suspend all enrichment of uranium, but the JCPOA did 

not require Iran to cease its enrichment of uranium, a 

failure that is directly responsible for Iran’s expanded enrichment activity today; 

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 

(in this preamble referred to as ‘‘UNSCR 2231’’), adopted on July 20, 2015, called on Iran not to undertake any 

activity related to nuclear-capable ballistic missile activities for 8 years and imposed a 5-year ban on conventional arms transfers to and from Iran; 

Whereas neither the JCPOA nor UNSCR 2231 adequately 

addressed the threat emanating from Iran’s ballistic and 

cruise missile program or long-standing support for terrorism, and the sunset provisions applied to prohibitions 

in UNSCR 2231 and the JCPOA severely weakened their 

restrictions and inadvertently legitimized that program 

and support; 


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•SRES 72 IS 

Whereas, based on the shortcomings of the JCPOA and 

UNSCR 2231, bipartisan majorities in both the Senate 

and the House of Representatives opposed the JCPOA 

and the sanctions relief for Iran contained in the agreement; 

Whereas the sanctions relief contained in the JCPOA provided resources necessary for Iran to continue developing 

ballistic missiles and supporting terrorism; 

Whereas the United States Government has designated Iran’s 

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (in this preamble referred to as the ‘‘IRGC’’) as a foreign terrorist organization under section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189(a)) and a specially designated 

global terrorist entity pursuant to Executive Order 13224 

(50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and 

prohibiting transactions with persons who commit, 

threaten to commit, or support terrorism); 

Whereas, by a vote of 98–2 in the Senate and 419–3 in the 

House of Representatives, Congress required the imposition of terrorism-related sanctions against the IRGC as 

part of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through 

Sanctions Act (22 U.S.C. 9401 et seq.); 

Whereas, on May 21, 2018, the United States Government 

outlined steps that the Government of Iran must take to 

normalize relations with the United States, including— 

(1) providing the International Atomic Energy Agency a full account of the possible military dimensions of 

its nuclear program and permanently and verifiably abandoning that program; 

(2) ceasing all enrichment and vowing never to pursue plutonium reprocessing; 


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(3) providing the International Atomic Energy Agency with access to all sites throughout the entire country; 

(4) ending its development and proliferation of ballistic missiles; 

(5) releasing all United States citizens currently held 

hostage, as well as citizens of countries that are partners 

and allies of the United States; 

(6) ending support for terrorist groups, including 

Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad; 

(7) respecting the sovereignty of Iraq by demobilizing Iranian-controlled Shia militias in the country; 

(8) ending its military support for the Houthi militia 

in Yemen; 

(9) withdrawing all forces under Iranian command 

in Syria; 

(10) ending support for the Taliban in Afghanistan 

and for senior al Qaeda leaders around the region; 

(11) ending the IRGC’s support for terrorists and 

militant partners around the world; and 

(12) halting its threatening behavior against its 

neighbors; 

Whereas President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal 

of the United States from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018, 

and gradually reimposed sanctions that were suspended 

by the Obama administration under the JCPOA, depriving the regime of valuable funds that the regime could 

have used to support its malign activities; 

Whereas the JCPOA defined the sanctions that the Obama 

administration suspended under the JCPOA as ‘‘nuclearrelated’’, but ‘‘nuclear-related’’ is not a term recognized 

under existing United States statutory sanctions related 

to Iran; 


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Whereas the Obama administration agreed to define the most 

significant bilateral sanctions imposed by the United 

States on Iran as ‘‘nuclear-related’’, waive the application 

of those sanctions under the JCPOA, and commit the executive branch to work to repeal the provisions of law 

providing for those sanctions upon the expiration of the 

JCPOA; 

Whereas, pursuant to the terms of the JCPOA, sanctions 

were lifted on Iranian financial institutions, cargo vessels, 

aircraft, fraudulent charities, and other entities that were 

not linked to Iran’s nuclear program, but were sanctioned 

for illicit conduct; 

Whereas, pursuant to section 401(a) of the Comprehensive 

Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 

2010 (22 U.S.C. 8551(a)), in order to terminate sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian 

financial institutions, the President is required to certify 

that ‘‘the Government of Iran . . . no longer satisfies the 

requirements for designation as a state sponsor of terrorism’’, and that ‘‘Iran has ceased the pursuit, acquisition, and development of, and verifiably dismantled its, 

nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and ballistic 

missiles and ballistic missile launch technology’’; 

Whereas, on March 12, 2020, President Trump extended the 

national emergency declared by Executive Order 12957 

(50 U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to prohibiting certain 

transactions with respect to the development of Iranian 

petroleum resources) following a determination that 

Iran’s malign activities pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States; 

Whereas the Department of the Treasury has determined 

that the IRGC and its affiliated entities have a dominant 


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presence in Iran’s commercial and financial sectors and 

maintain extensive economic interests in the defense, construction, aviation, oil, banking, metal, automobile, and 

mining industries; 

Whereas, on October 8, 2020, the Secretary of the Treasury 

designated the financial sector of Iran for the imposition 

of sanctions, authorizing sanctions with respect to persons operating in Iran’s construction, mining, manufacturing, and textile sectors, to deny the Government of 

Iran financial resources that may be used to fund and 

support its malign activities; 

Whereas the United States Government has sanctioned Iranian entities for their support to, or association with, 

Iran’s terrorism campaigns, ballistic missile program, or 

the Supreme Leader of Iran, including the Central Bank 

of Iran, the National Development Fund of Iran, elements of the IRGC, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and 

entities in Iran’s banking, petroleum, and industrial sectors; 

Whereas, in February 2020, the Financial Action Task 

Force, the global anti-money laundering standard-setting 

body, fully lifted the suspension of countermeasures and 

called on its members and urged all jurisdictions to apply 

effective countermeasures relating to the terrorist financing risk emanating from Iran and the threat that poses 

to the international financial system; 

Whereas the United States Government, under Democratic 

and Republican administrations, has concluded that Iran 

provides a safe haven for al Qaeda leaders and that the 

al Qaeda network has used Iran to establish a ‘‘core pipeline’’ through which money, facilitators, and operators 

moved to Afghanistan and Pakistan; 


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Whereas the United States Government has sanctioned entities in the Government of Iran for perpetrating human 

rights abuses; 

Whereas, pursuant to section 8 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 

1996 (Public Law 104–172; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note), in 

order to terminate sanctions imposed with respect to the 

energy sector of Iran, the President is required to certify 

‘‘that Iran— 

‘‘(1) has ceased its efforts to design, develop, manufacture, or acquire— 

‘‘(A) a nuclear explosive device or related materials and technology; 

‘‘(B) chemical and biological weapons; and 

‘‘(C) ballistic missiles and ballistic missile 

launch technology; 

‘‘(2) has been removed from the list of countries the 

governments of which have been determined . . . to have 

repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism; and 

‘‘(3) poses no significant threat to United States 

national security, interests, or allies.’’; and 

Whereas the concept of ‘‘nuclear-related’’ sanctions does not 

exist in statute, and existing statutes likely require a 

treaty to terminate such sanctions: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms that it is the policy of the United 

3 States not to allow Iran to develop or otherwise ac4 quire a nuclear weapons capability; 


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1 (2) resolves that the lifting or termination of 

2 sanctions with respect to Iran must take place only 

3 as provided for under section 401(a) of the Com4 prehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Di5 vestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 8551(a)) and sec6 tion 8 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (Public 

7 Law 104–172; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note); 

8 (3) rejects and opposes the reapplication of 

9 sanctions relief, including the use of waivers, de-list10 ing individuals or entities, or the application of li11 censes, provided for in, or incident to, the Joint 

12 Comprehensive Plan of Action, including on any sec13 tors of the Iranian economy or any individuals or en14 tities designated for the imposition of sanctions 

15 under United States law for supporting terrorism, 

16 missile development and proliferation, human rights 

17 abuses, corruption, or Iran’s other destabilizing ac18 tivities; 

19 (4) opposes reversing the finding that identifies 

20 Iran as a jurisdiction of primary money laundering 

21 concern under section 5318A of title 31, United 

22 States Code; 

23 (5) opposes the lifting of the ‘‘U-Turn’’ prohibi24 tion, which bans Iran from accessing the United 


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1 States financial system for the purpose of con2 ducting dollarized transactions; and 

3 (6) opposes the suspension or lifting of the call 

4 for countermeasures by the Financial Action Task 

5 Force on the Iranian financial sector until Iran fully 

6 completes its action plan. 

Æ 


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