Overview
- President Donald Trump posted Sunday that Republicans should fold Iran into the Senator Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act, saying the change would honor Graham’s intent.
- The bill is a bipartisan Senate package that was revised from an early draft with proposed 500% secondary tariffs to a negotiated version that caps many tariffs at up to 100% and pairs tariff authority with primary and secondary sanctions.
- Co-sponsors have warned that reopening the negotiated text to add Iran or Hezbollah could imperil the cross-party consensus and delay a Senate vote that lawmakers expect as soon as next week.
- The president’s call follows a sharp uptick in U.S.-Iran military clashes this week, including U.S. strikes and announced U.S. service member deaths, which has pushed Tehran policy back onto the legislative agenda.
- Lawmakers and market analysts say expanding targets would raise diplomatic friction with major energy importers such as China and India, risk disruption in global energy markets, and increase enforcement pressure on sanctions-evasion channels including crypto flows.