Senator Rob Portman (R-Ohio) joined Republican colleagues in introducing two pieces of legislation to the United States Senate on March 17 to impose sanctions on the Iranian regime.

“Iran’s support for terrorism, its flagrant abuses of religious liberty and human rights, and its dangerous and provocative ballistic missile tests demand a response.” Senator Portman said. “One of the most alarming flaws in the President’s agreement with the Iranian regime is that it failed to address Iran’s ballistic missile program, which could someday be used to deliver a nuclear weapon. The Iran deal has clearly failed to change Iran’s dangerous and destabilizing behavior. Instead of ushering in a new era of cooperation and responsible behavior, the main impact of the Iran deal on Iranian behavior has been frequent ballistic missile tests, increased cooperation with Hezbollah and Russia in Syria, aggression towards U.S. Navy ships and sailors, the detention of U.S. citizens, continued hateful rhetoric towards the United States and Israel, and more than $100 billion in sanctions relief to fund it all. It is time for the United States to stand up and hold Iran accountable for its actions.”

Senator Portman introduced the Iran Terrorism and Human Rights Sanctions Act with Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois and other Republicans, a bill that sanctions Iran for its support of terrorism, violations of religious liberty, and human rights abuses. Secretary of State John Kerry has admitted that some of the sanctions relief from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action will likely fund terrorism.

The Iran Terrorism and Human Rights Sanctions Act imposes new sanctions against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Mahan Air, an Iranian airline that has helped the IRGC to spread terrorism and militancy; codifies current prohibitions against Iran’s direct and indirect access to the U.S. financial system, while also streamlining and strengthening the requirements for the President to remove Iran or any other country from the state sponsors of terrorism list; and imposes new sanctions against Iran for its egregious human rights abuses.

Senator Portman also introduced the Iran Ballistic Missile Sanctions Act with Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire to sanction every part of the Iranian economy that contributes to its ballistic missile program. Specifically, the bill:

(1) imposes new sanctions against persons that knowingly aid Iran’s ballistic missile program;

(2) requires new sanctions against entities owned 25 percent or greater or controlled by Iran’s key ballistic missile organizations (the Aerospace Industries Organization, the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, or the Shahid Bakeri Industrial Group);

(3) requires a Presidential certification that persons listed in UN Security Council Resolutions are not engaged in activities related to ballistic missiles and requires the imposition of sanctions if that certification cannot be made; and

(4) imposes sanctions on persons involved in sectors of Iran’s economy that support, directly or indirectly, Iran’s ballistic program.

In January 2016, the administration imposed limited sanctions on Iran for firing ballistic missiles in October and November of 2015. Last week, Iran tested and launched ballistic missiles capable of hitting Israel, our closest ally in the Middle East. These missiles were inscribed in Hebrew to read “Israel must be wiped off the face of the Earth.” Iran’s recent ballistic missile tests, like the previous tests in October and December, are a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which implements the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and UNSCR 1929, which contains restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Polls show that Americans—and Ohioans in particular—overwhelmingly oppose the Administration’s Iran Deal.