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Slideshow As rial plunges, Congress looks at expanding Iran sanctions Tweet Share this Email Print Related News U.N. chief says sanctions on Iran affecting its people 2:34pm EDT Analysis & Opinion Is it Ahmadinejad’s last hurrah? Iran currency plunge an omen for change? Related Topics World » Politics » Middle East Turmoil » A vendor inspects Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Baghdad, October 4, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Thaier al-Sudani By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON | Fri Oct 5, 2012 2:34pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lawmakers in the Congress are looking at ways to expand economic sanctions on Iran, measures that have helped push the country's currency into free fall but have not yet pressured Tehran to abandon its nuclear program. The proposals, still in the early stages of development, would aim to penalize foreign banks that handle any significant transactions with the Central Bank of Iran. Only oil-related transactions are now covered. "We are seriously looking at additional policy options, including further closing the (Central Bank of Iran) to transactions and other measures designed to impact Iran foreign currency reserves," an aide to Democratic Senator Robert Menendez said on Friday. Another congressional aide said some lawmakers believe that if all banking transactions except for food and medicine were covered, the Iranian economy would collapse "pretty quickly." Menendez and Republican Senator Mark Kirk were co-authors of a sanctions law passed in December that targeted revenues from Iran's oil sales as a way to stop it from pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The plunge of the rial and signs of civil unrest in Tehran have given Western policymakers hope that economic sanctions may be biting deeper. The stakes are high, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week suggesting Israel might use military force against Iran if its uranium enrichment program passes what he termed a "red line." Iran has blamed the plunge in the currency on what it says is a foreign conspiracy. The European Union has begun discussing the possibility of its own broad trade embargo against Iran that would include sweeping measures against the central bank and energy industry. But Western powers need to make sure diplomacy is a central part of the process for resolving the nuclear issues, rather than simply turning up the sanctions pressure, said George Lopez, peace studies professor at Notre Dame University. "There's no guarantee that a government that's finding itself in collapse wants to negotiate a nuclear treaty, those can be the worst conditions," Lopez said. The new U.S. congressional measures could become part of an annual defense policy bill, which the Senate and House of Representatives need to finalize after the November 6 presidential election, said a congressional aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It's just a matter of tweaking the current law, very slightly," the aide said. TOTAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE Some lawmakers are pushing for all transactions except for those involving food and medicine to be covered by the banking sanctions, the aide said. "You really move to a total embargo scenario," the aide said. "The Iranian economy would collapse pretty quickly." At a minimum, the aide said a proposal could be revived to block any company from U.S. financial markets if it does any type of business with any type of Iranian energy firm. That plan had been floated earlier this year. The United States has long barred U.S. firms from doing business with Iran, but last December adopted measures that forced international buyers of Iranian oil to cut their purchases. In August, a second package of sanctions added more restrictions for international banks, insurance companies and oil traders. As part of that law, the government is required to report next week on Iran's natural gas production and exports, including the impact a reduction in exports would have on global natural gas prices. In December, the administration is required to tell Congress whether Iranian exports of natural gas could be sanctioned under existing laws and what the impact of those sanctions would be. Suzanne Maloney, an expert on Iran at the Brookings Institution, said she thinks the Obama administration would support new measures as "a reminder to Tehran that the country's plight can get worse." But because Tehran still exports around a million barrels of oil every day, the regime may have enough cash reserves to be able to ride out sanctions pressure for some time, Maloney said. "The outcome is more likely to be the corrosion of the economy, rather than its outright collapse," she said. (Additional reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Karey Wutkowski, Philip Barbara and Vicki Allen) World Politics Middle East Turmoil Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (3) pax_vobiscum wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. 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