US Senators Introduce Legislation Calling Out Iran-China Ties

A view shows traffic on Azadi street in Iran's capital Tehran, April 20, 2021. (AFP)
A view shows traffic on Azadi street in Iran's capital Tehran, April 20, 2021. (AFP)
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US Senators Introduce Legislation Calling Out Iran-China Ties

A view shows traffic on Azadi street in Iran's capital Tehran, April 20, 2021. (AFP)
A view shows traffic on Azadi street in Iran's capital Tehran, April 20, 2021. (AFP)

US Republican Senators introduced on Tuesday a bill to call attention to Iran’s ties with China by prohibiting any deal with Iran until the regime terminates its relations with Beijing and Hamas.

US Senators Marco Rubio and Marsha Blackburn introduced the so-called Iran China Accountability Act, which stipulates that Iran terminates all agreements involving the transfer of funds from China and terminates strategic security and military partnerships with China.

The two Republicans were joined by Senators Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, Thom Tillis, Mike Braun and Ted Cruz.

The bill stipulates that Iran terminates all ties and transfers of cash to Iranian proxy forces, including Hamas.

“Iran should verify the destruction of all nuclear, missile, cyber and chemical weapons, materials, and infrastructure,” the bill said.

It also requires that any nuclear agreement with Iran must be ratified by a two-third vote of the US Senate.

“The Obama-Biden Iran Deal has always been a failure. The Biden administration should not re-enter a deal that legitimizes the Iranian regime — especially while they continue to fund terrorism, endorse Communist China’s dangerous government, and facilitate genocide,” said Blackburn.

She added that this legislation will stop taxpayer dollars from enabling the White House to back this corrupt regime.

Describing Iran and China as two of America’s greatest adversaries that cannot be trusted, Scott said, “Iran chants ‘death to America’ and wants to destroy our great ally, Israel. Communist China will stop at nothing in its quest for world domination. These dangerous regimes, clearly emboldened by President (Joe) Biden’s appeasement and desperate desire to re-enter the failed Iran nuclear deal, are working to gain a critical foothold in the Middle East.”

For his part, Senator Tillis said the US needs to learn from the failures of the nuclear deal.

“Any future agreements between the United States and Iran must ensure Tehran has ceased its support of terrorist groups and its financial reliance on the totalitarian Chinese Communist Party,” he said.

The lawmakers also recalled the strategic economic deal signed in March 2021 between Iran and China, which is worth $400 billion, for 25 years.

They said this agreement would advance Chinese influence in the Middle East, adding that despite an international sanctions regime, Beijing remains Iran’s largest oil customer.



Cuba Left Reeling after Hurricane Ravages Island

A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
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Cuba Left Reeling after Hurricane Ravages Island

A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)
A man rides a bicycle along a flooded street after the passage of Hurricane Rafael in Batabano, Mayabeque province, Cuba, on November 7, 2024. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP)

Cuba was left reeling Thursday after a fierce Category 3 hurricane ripped across the island, knocking out the country’s power grid, downing trees and damaging infrastructure. No fatalities were immediately reported.
Hurricane Rafael crossed a western portion of Cuba on Wednesday evening about 75 kilometers west of Havana.
Some 50,000 people took shelter in Havana, with thousands more doing the same in regions south and just west of the capital since they lived in flood zones or in flimsy homes. The main road from Havana to the southern coastal city of Batabanó was strewn with dozens of utility poles and wires.
Lázaro Guerra, electricity director for the Ministry of Energy and Mines, said power had been partially restored in the island’s western region and that generation units were powering back up. But he warned that restoring power would be slow-going as crews took safety precautions.
As Rafael plowed across Cuba on Wednesday evening it slowed to a Category 2 hurricane as it chugged into the Gulf of Mexico before heading toward Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Late Thursday morning, the hurricane was located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west-northwest of Havana. It had maximum sustained winds of 100 mph (345 kph) and was moving west-northwest at 9 mph (15 kph).
Earlier in the week, Rafael brushed past Jamaica and battered the Cayman Islands, downing trees and power lines and unleashing heavy flooding in some areas.
Authorities in Jamaica are searching for a couple last seen inside a car that was swept away by floodwaters, police told Radio Jamaica News.
Thousands of customers in Jamaica and Little Cayman remained without power as crews worked to restore electricity after the storm.
Rafael was expected to keep weakening as it spins over open waters and heads toward northern Mexico, although the hurricane center warned there was “above average uncertainty” in the storm's future track.
Meanwhile, many Cubans were left picking up the pieces from Wednesday night, after a rocky few weeks in the Caribbean nation. In October, the island was hit by a one-two punch. First, it was hit by island-wide blackouts stretching on for days, a product of the island’s energy crisis. Shortly after, it was slapped by powerful hurricane that struck the eastern part of the island and killed at least six people.
The disasters have stoked discontent already simmering in Cuba amid an ongoing economic crisis, which has pushed many to migrate from Cuba.
Classes and public transport were suspended on parts of the island and authorities canceled flights in and out of Havana and Varadero. Thousands of people in the west of the island had been evacuated as a preventative measure.
Rafael is the 17th named storm of the season.