Overview
- Senators on Tuesday amended a bipartisan sanctions bill to cover Iran and renamed the measure the Lindsey Graham Russia and Iran Sanctions Act of 2026.
- The revised text preserves broad Russia measures, including secondary tariffs and financial limits aimed at countries that import Russian oil and gas.
- The bill extends authorities tied to Iran sanctions for a reported seven years and limits newly granted presidential tariff powers to a reported five‑year term.
- The measure authorizes the president to levy steep tariffs—reported in drafts as high as 200 percent—against the five largest buyers of Russian energy and up to five countries that help Moscow evade sanctions, a step that has drawn concern from some Senate Democrats.
- A procedural Senate vote cleared the way for floor action with strong bipartisan support—86 senators backing the motion and 12 opposed—and Ukraine’s president met privately with senators and observed the late‑night vote before attending Graham’s memorial.