Berman Will Introduce Iran Sanctions Bill Next Month

A statement just released by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee:

The news that Iran has been secretly constructing a second uranium enrichment plant is deeply disturbing and casts a heavy shadow over the negotiations scheduled for next week. Iran’s intention to build nuclear weaponry and its efforts to disguise that intention could not be clearer now — and we have no idea what other aspects of its nuclear bomb project it may be working on in secret. There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Iran has been lying to the international community for years about its allegedly peaceful nuclear intentions. Today’s news reinforces my determination to bring the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act before the Foreign Affairs Committee for consideration next month.

Berman said earlier this month that he would introduce his Iran sanctions bill “absent some compelling evidence why I should do otherwise,” and now it looks like the disclosure of the Qom uranium enrichment facility has pushed him over the edge. You can read the text of the bill here.