Russia criticized on Thursday a
vote by the U.S. House of Representatives to tighten sanctions against Iran,
saying it would not help resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.
"Additional sanctions are actually
aimed at the economic strangulation of Iran, but not at solving the problem of
non-proliferation," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted as
saying by the Interfax news agency.
This comes after the House of Representatives
easily passed a bill on Wednesday to tighten sanctions on Iran, showing a
strong message to Tehran over its disputed nuclear program days before
President-elect Hassan Rouhani is sworn in.
The vote also highlighted a growing divide
between Congress and the Obama administration on Iran policy ahead of
international talks on the nuclear program in coming months.
Iran insists the nuclear program
is purely for civilian purposes.
The bill, which passed 400 to 20, would cut
Iran's oil exports by another 1 million barrels per day over a year, in an
attempt to reduce the flow of funds to the nuclear program. It is the first
sanctions bill to put a number on exactly how much Iran's oil exports would be
cut.
The legislation provides for heavy
penalties for buyers who do not find alternative supplies, limits Iran's access
to funds in overseas accounts and penalizes countries trading with Iran in
other industrial sectors.
Previous U.S. and EU sanctions have reduced
Iran's oil exports by more than half. The United States has worked with Iran's
top oil consumers including China, Japan and South Korea to push them toward
alternative suppliers of crude.
Oil prices have remained relatively steady,
which has allowed the efforts to continue, but some analysts say further
sanctions risk pushing up prices and damaging the economies of U.S. allies.
"This is almost like an embargo on
Iranian oil imports. It is like giving Iran an ultimatum," a Seoul-based
refining source said, after the vote. "I think we can find alternatives
but we prefer Iranian crude as the economics is better. If very little Iranian
crude is available, overall oil prices would rise."
The bill still has to be passed in the
Senate and signed by President Barack Obama before becoming law. The Senate
Banking Committee is expected to introduce a similar measure in September,
though it is uncertain whether the language to cut exports by 1 million barrels
a day will survive.
Critics of the bill said it shows an aggressive signal to Iran that last
month voted in Rouhani, a cleric many see as more moderate. He will be sworn in
on Sunday.
REUTERS