Washington, DC – Congressman Howard L. Berman, Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded today’s passage by the House of H.R 1905, the Iran Threat Reduction Act. One of the most important provisions of this bill is an amendment authored by Congressman Berman that imposes tough sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran.

“This bill may represent our last chance to find a peaceful means to pressure the Iranian regime into stopping its nuclear weapon program,” said Rep. Berman. “Within the next year, possibly in the next six months, this threat may become irreversible if we don’t act now.

“One of the most important provisions in this bill is my amendment to impose sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank, which provides key financial support for Iran’s nuclear weapons program,” continued Rep. Berman. “This measure would cut off the Bank from the world’s banking system, dealing a blow to Iran’s economy far more powerful than anything we’ve seen from previous sanctions."

“Our absolute goal must be to stop Iran’s nuclear program,” Rep. Berman concluded. “There can be no alternative to achieving that goal – no temporizing, no half-measures, no compromise. We cannot accept a nuclear-armed Iran. The leaders of Iran must be forced to confront economic crisis if they continue to develop a nuclear weapon.”

Rep. Berman is the co-author and lead Democratic sponsor of H.R. 1905. In 2010, as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he authored and steered through Congress the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (CISADA), the toughest financial and energy-related sanctions ever imposed on Iran. That bill, which President Obama signed into law on July 1, 2010, paved the way for the UnitedNations Security Council, the European Union, and many individual countries to impose their own sanctions on Iran.

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