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US Senators Urge Extension of Iran Energy Sanctions

Iranian flag [Getty]
Iranian flag [Getty]
    London - Washington - Asharq Al-Awsat
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US Senators Urge Extension of Iran Energy Sanctions

Iranian flag [Getty]
Iranian flag [Getty]

A bipartisan group of senators on Friday introduced a bill to permanently extend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, which allowed the US to impose sanctions on Iran’s energy sector.

The bill was introduced by Republicans Tim Scott and Bill Hagerty, and Democrats Maggie Hassan and Jacky Rosen.

It aims to extend the restrictions imposed in the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) of 1996 beyond 2026, when they are set to expire.

The US Congress has extended the Act numerous times since it first expired in 2011.

On December 1, 2016, ISA was extended for a further ten years.

“The United States, Israel, and our Arab partners remain concerned about the looming threat that a nuclear Iran poses to the stability of the region,” said Senator Scott in a statement on Friday.

He added that US sanctions are a necessary deterrent for this dangerous and unstable regime, which is why the bill will make the cornerstone of sanctions on Iran permanent.

For her part, Rosen argued that the 1996 bill “helped bring Iran to the negotiating table”, and that the new legislation “ensures we maintain the full range of our economic and diplomatic tools to prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.”

Last Tuesday, Senator Hagerty issued a statement to announce his support for the bill.

“As Iran increases its nuclear and ballistic missile threats and its support for terrorism and militancy in the Middle East, the United States should not ease sanctions and make it easier for the regime to continue its malign behavior,” he said.

Also, Senator Hassan stressed that this bipartisan legislation is important for restraining Iran's ability to pursue weapons and technology that threaten the US national security.

In 1996, ISA allowed the president to impose secondary sanctions on Iran’s energy sector.

Throughout the years, ISA provisions were expanded to include other Iranian industries.

In 2010, the Act was amended to require the United States to slap sanctions on foreign companies that invest more than $20 million a year in Iran's oil or gas sector.

The bipartisan bill comes as the US and Iran appear to be close to a nuclear deal, after the European Union sent a final offer for reaching a deal on nuclear talks that started between both sides 16 months ago.

Iran responded to the text, and reportedly asked for reassurances that the US respects Tehran’s red lines.

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World

NKorea's Kim Claims Progress on Nuclear-armed Navy as New Warship is Placed into Service

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) speaking during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held from 20-22 June 2026 in Pyongyang, North Korea (issued 23 June 2026).EPA/KCNA
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) speaking during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held from 20-22 June 2026 in Pyongyang, North Korea (issued 23 June 2026).EPA/KCNA
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NKorea's Kim Claims Progress on Nuclear-armed Navy as New Warship is Placed into Service

A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) speaking during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held from 20-22 June 2026 in Pyongyang, North Korea (issued 23 June 2026).EPA/KCNA
A photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) speaking during the Second Plenary Meeting of the Ninth Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) held from 20-22 June 2026 in Pyongyang, North Korea (issued 23 June 2026).EPA/KCNA

North Korea has commissioned a 5,000-ton destroyer that leader Kim Jong Un touts as a symbol of the country’s growing naval and nuclear capabilities, state media reported Wednesday, as Pyongyang seeks to expand its ability to project military power at sea.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Kim told a commissioning ceremony Tuesday at the western port of Nampo that warships such as the Choe Hyon show that the nuclear armament of his navy is progressing as planned.

According to The Associated Press, KCNA said the Choe Hyon was formally placed into service with North Korea’s navy after the ceremony and will be tasked with defending the country’s western coast.

Since unveiling the ship in April 2025, Kim has portrayed the Choe Hyon as a major step toward expanding his military’s operational reach and preemptive strike capabilities. KCNA has said the warship is equipped with a range of systems, including anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapons as well as nuclear-capable ballistic and cruise missiles.

South Korean officials and experts say the vessel was likely built with Russian assistance amid deepening military ties between the countries, but some analysts have questioned whether it’s ready for active service.

North Korea has put the Choe Hyon through a series of tests in recent months ahead of its deployment, including launches of what it described as nuclear-capable cruise missiles from the vessel.

“It has clearly become a thing of the past when our navy existed as a force for defending the sea off our land,” Kim said in a speech at Tuesday's ceremony.

“It is rising into a full-fledged service equipped with strategic means as the program of equipping the Navy with nuclear weapons is following its planned course unerringly.”

After years of spurring ballistic missile development, Kim has shifted his focus more toward naval capabilities, including the ongoing construction of a nuclear-powered submarine. Naval capabilities were also a key focus when Kim outlined his five-year military goals at February’s Workers’ Party congress, which included calls for intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of underwater launches.

Kim, following a missile test aboard the Choe Hyon in March, claimed that his efforts to arm his navy with nuclear weapons would “constitute a radical change in defending our maritime sovereignty, something that we have not achieved for half a century.”

State media didn’t elaborate on what Kim meant, but some analysts say North Korea may be preparing to formally declare a maritime boundary that could encroach on waters controlled by rival South Korea.

As inter-Korean tensions worsen, Kim has repeatedly said he does not recognize the Northern Limit Line in the western sea, drawn by the US-led UN Command at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. The poorly drawn sea boundary has been the site of several deadly skirmishes in past years.

North Korea unveiled in May 2025 a second destroyer in the same class as the Choe Hyon, but it was damaged during a botched launch at the northern port of Chongjin, prompting a furious response from Kim. The country later said the ship, named Kang Kon, was relaunched in June after repairs, but outside experts have questioned whether it’s fully operational.

Kim during Tuesday’s speech said Kang Kon will also be entering service soon. North Korea also has separate plans to build a larger, 10,000-ton destroyer.

Since his nuclear diplomacy with US President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019, Kim has accelerated the expansion of his nuclear arsenal and deepened ties with Moscow and Beijing.

While maintaining a hard-line stance toward South Korea, he has left the door open to renewed talks with Washington, repeating Pyongyang’s demand that the United States drop denuclearization as a precondition for reviving negotiations.

Separately, South Korea’s military said Wednesday it had taken into custody an unidentified North Korean soldier who crossed the heavily fortified inter-Korean border Tuesday night. The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the soldier expressed an intent to defect and that relevant authorities were investigating the incident.

World

Cyberattack Hits State Banks in Iran

A man uses an ATM of Bank Melli Iran in front of a bank in Tehran, Iran, June 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A man uses an ATM of Bank Melli Iran in front of a bank in Tehran, Iran, June 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Cyberattack Hits State Banks in Iran

A man uses an ATM of Bank Melli Iran in front of a bank in Tehran, Iran, June 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
A man uses an ATM of Bank Melli Iran in front of a bank in Tehran, Iran, June 17, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Electronic banking services have been severely disrupted after another cyberattack on several state banks in Iran, dpa said on Tuesday quoting Iranian media outlets.

According to the reports, the three affected banks - Melli, Saderat and Tejarat - temporarily had to shut down their customers' card services nationwide, meaning online payments were not possible.

This was intended to prevent unauthorized access and ensure the security of customers' assets, the IT department of the Banking Coordination Council said, according to the Shargh online news website.

Experts are currently working to restore operations as quickly as possible, it said. However, the council was unable to provide more detailed information. Private banks in the country are not affected by the attacks.

A cyberattack in mid-June disrupted four major state banks, with online payments and numerous cash machines in the capital Tehran stopping working.

“A silent war is unfolding and Iran is under cyberattack,” the Iranian hacker group Black Wolves said on its Telegram channel at the time, claiming responsibility for the attack.

Back in 2022, during the women's protests, there was a major hack targeting Iran's central bank. The surveillance cameras of the notorious Evin prison in Tehran were also hacked.

Published footage showed violent assaults by prison staff on political prisoners.

The hacker attacks are regarded as a form of digital protest against the Islamic system of government in Iran.

World

South Korea Says North Korean Soldier in Custody after Crossing Border

File photo of North Korean soldiers at a guard post near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas (Reuters)
File photo of North Korean soldiers at a guard post near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas (Reuters)
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South Korea Says North Korean Soldier in Custody after Crossing Border

File photo of North Korean soldiers at a guard post near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas (Reuters)
File photo of North Korean soldiers at a guard post near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas (Reuters)

South Korea took a soldier from the North into custody after the individual crossed the heavily fortified border this week in what is believed to be a defection, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday.

"The military secured one North Korean soldier in the central front Tuesday night and relevant authorities are currently investigating the details," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a message to the media, according to Yonhap.

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s.

Most go overland to neighboring China first, then enter a third country such as Thailand before finally making it to the South.

Defections across the land border that divides the peninsula are relatively rare, as the area is densely forested, ridden with landmines and monitored by soldiers on both sides.

North Koreans are typically handed over to Seoul's intelligence agency for screening after arriving in the South.

More than 34,000 North Koreans have escaped the isolated country to the South, according to data from the Unification Ministry.

In 2024, 236 North Koreans arrived in South Korea, with women accounting for 88 percent of the total.

Pyongyang uses harsh words such as "human scum" to describe citizens who escape.