US President Donald Trump has once again indicated his aggressive foreign policy. On Sunday, Trump demanded through a post on the social media platform ‘Truth Social’ that the Republican Party should also include Iran in the proposed ‘Russian Sanctions Bill’. Trump believes that this is the most opportune time to take strong steps against Tehran.
This demand comes at a time when an amended law to impose sanctions on Russia and its allies has been introduced in the US Senate. The bill, introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal, and Darlene Graham, is named “Senator Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026” in honor of the late Senator Lindsey Graham. The primary purpose of this bill is to target Russia’s oil and gas exports, which serve to finance Russia’s military action in Ukraine.
Trump argues that Washington’s top priority should be to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He made it clear that he was not concerned about Iran violating the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the US. It is clear from Trump’s stance that he is in favor of putting more economic pressure on Iran in the coming times.
The proposed bill has strict provisions to impose tariffs on top buyers of Russian crude oil and natural gas. It includes new powers to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries that help evade Russian oil sanctions. It also targets the ‘Shadow Fleet’ and companies providing Chinese support to Russia’s military industrial base. Trump’s now linking it with Iran is being considered a deliberate strategy to broaden the scope of this entire law.
