US Congress to Impose Sanctions on ICC

US House Speaker Mike Johnson (AFP)
US House Speaker Mike Johnson (AFP)
TT

US Congress to Impose Sanctions on ICC

US House Speaker Mike Johnson (AFP)
US House Speaker Mike Johnson (AFP)

House Republicans this week are set to consider a bill that would impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a decision by its top prosecutor last month to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The House Rules Committee hearing was held this week to discuss the proposed bill.
“We think it’s important for Republicans and Democrats to stand together and send a message to the international community that the abuses of the ICC cannot be allowed to go forward,” said Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Speaking to ‘Fox News Sunday’ to discuss the White House opposing Republicans' bill to sanction the ICC after it put out arrest warrants on Israeli officials, he said, “The idea that President Biden would backtrack on that and disagree with us that we should impose sanctions on ICC officials when they are threatening to arrest the Prime Minister of Israel and the Defense Minister...is to us unconscionable.”
Biden is not only facing Republican criticism. He is also in disaccord with his own Democratic Party. A large number of Democrats support efforts to impose sanctions on the ICC and therefore, enhancing the bill's chances of being passed in the House.
The lawmakers backing the bill accuse the ICC of “historic bias” against Israel.
In a letter written by more than 20 Democrats, the lawmakers called on the Biden administration “to consult with Congress to immediately impose sanctions against the ICC's Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan and any other officials who have demonstrated undue bias in their actions.”
The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act
According to the proposed bill, “the President shall impose sanctions on the ICC not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of the Act if the International Criminal Court is engaging in any attempt to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person.”
The protected persons are US military personnel, US officials, and officials and military personnel of certain allied countries.
The bill notes that the sanctions will be imposed on ICC members and their immediate family members and to deny them a visa or other documentation to enter the United States.
Also, it calls on the President to exercise all of his powers to block and prohibit all transactions in all property and interests in property of any foreign person affected by the sanctions.
The bill also clarifies that the United States and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute or members of the ICC, and therefore the Court has no legitimacy or jurisdiction over the United States or Israel.
Last week, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said that the sanctions were not the right answer.

 

 



Iran, UK, France, Germany to Hold Nuclear Talks on Friday

Women walk near a building bearing an anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, on Tehran's Karim Khan Zand avenue on April 26, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Women walk near a building bearing an anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, on Tehran's Karim Khan Zand avenue on April 26, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
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Iran, UK, France, Germany to Hold Nuclear Talks on Friday

Women walk near a building bearing an anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, on Tehran's Karim Khan Zand avenue on April 26, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Women walk near a building bearing an anti-US mural with the slogan "Down with the USA" and skulls replacing the stars on the US flag, on Tehran's Karim Khan Zand avenue on April 26, 2025. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP)

Iran will hold nuclear talks in Rome on Friday with Britain, France and Germany, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Wednesday, with the aim of improving strained ties at a time of high-stakes nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.
The meeting will precede a fourth round of nuclear talks this weekend between Iran and the United States, also to be held in Italy.
"In my opinion, the three European countries have lost their role (in the nuclear file) due to the wrong policies they have adopted. Of course, we do not want this and are ready to hold talks with them in Rome," Araqchi told state media.
Reuters reported on Monday that Tehran had proposed meeting the European countries, collectively known as the E3, which are parties to Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that US President Donald Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
E3 political directors confirmed they would meet with Iran on Friday.
Trump has threatened to attack Iran unless it agrees to a new nuclear deal. Iran has far exceeded the 2015 agreement's curbs on its nuclear program since the United States withdrew, and the European countries share Washington's concern that Tehran could seek an atomic bomb. Iran says its program is peaceful.
A UN Security Council resolution ratifying the 2015 accord expires in October, and France's foreign minister said on Tuesday that Paris would not think twice about re-imposing international sanctions if negotiations fail to reach a deal.
"These sanctions would permanently close off Iranian access
to technology, investment, and the European market, with devastating effects on the country's economy," Jean-Noel Barrot said.
Iran's UN representative responded: "If France and its partners are truly seeking a diplomatic solution, they must stop threatening."
On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department imposed new sanctions on what it described as a network based in Iran and China accused of procuring ballistic missile propellant ingredients for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Araqchi said US sanctions during negotiations sent the "wrong message".
Trump has said he is confident of clinching a new pact that would block Iran's path to a nuclear bomb.