The president supported expanding the sanctions project against Moscow to include the Iranian regime and its allies, with bipartisan support in Congress
The President of the United States, Donald Trump, called on Republican lawmakers this Sunday to include the Iranian regime in the sanctions bill against Russia currently being reviewed by Congress. The initiative, originally pushed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, aims to increase economic pressure on Moscow and its allies, extending restrictions to those who continue to finance the export of Russian hydrocarbons.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump recalled that expanding sanctions on Iran was one of Graham's priorities before his death and urged the Republican caucus to achieve that goal. "Republicans should include Iran in the sanctions bill against Russia. That was what Lindsey wanted to do, and it was going to happen. It's important," the president wrote.
The proposal also coincides with discussions held at the White House in recent weeks to evaluate the inclusion of the terrorist group Hezbollah within the same legislative package. The Lebanese organization, backed by Tehran, has been labeled for years by the United States and other Western countries as one of the main destabilizing forces in the Middle East.
The bill aims to strengthen economic sanctions against Russia in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine and expand the scope of measures towards governments and organizations that maintain close ties with the Kremlin. The inclusion of Iran also responds to the growing cooperation between Moscow and Tehran in military, energy, and technological matters, an alliance that has raised concerns among Western allies.
President Donald Trump urged Republican lawmakers to include the Iranian regime in a sanctions package against Russia
The final push for the legislation came in early July when a bipartisan group of senators announced they had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to move forward with an updated version of the bill. Until then, the initiative had been stalled while the White House assessed the most opportune moment to promote new economic restrictions.
In a joint statement, Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Roger Wicker, along with Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Jeanne Shaheen, reported that they had received government support to continue with the legislative process.
"We are proud to announce that we have reached an agreement with the Donald Trump administration to advance our updated legislation on sanctions against Russia," the lawmakers expressed.
They also noted that the escalation of Russian attacks against civilian targets in Ukraine made it essential to strengthen the economic tools available to increase the cost of the war for Moscow.
"At a time when Russia is intensifying its massacre of civilians, it is imperative that the legislative and executive branches work together to create tools that impose a high price on those who buy Russian oil and gas and fuel Putin's war machine," they stated in the release.
The late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham was one of the proponents of the project alongside a bipartisan group of lawmakers
Although the final content of the bill has not yet been disclosed, it is expected that the new provisions will include harsher sanctions for countries, companies, or entities that continue to acquire Russian oil and gas, as well as new restrictions aimed at the Kremlin's strategic allies.
The agreement reached between the White House and lawmakers clears the way for relatively quick approval in Congress. Both Republican and Democratic leaders believe there is broad consensus to tighten sanctions policy against Russia, especially given the lack of diplomatic progress to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Trump had already indicated during the G7 summit held in June his willingness to re-establish stricter sanctions on Russian energy exports. In previous months, some of those restrictions had been temporarily relaxed to avoid a sharp increase in international oil prices during the escalation of tensions with Iran.
The sanctions package initially included actions against countries, companies, or entities that trade in Russian oil and gas
However, the U.S. administration now believes that international conditions allow for a return to a strategy of greater economic pressure. In this context, the possible inclusion of the Iranian regime in the bill seeks to reinforce the financial isolation of a government accused by Washington of supporting terrorist organizations, destabilizing the Middle East, and closely collaborating with Russia in various strategic areas.
The initiative also revives the broad support that a similar proposal presented in May 2025 received, when more than eighty senators backed new sanctions against Moscow, considering that Vladimir Putin's government had not shown a real willingness to end the war.
The promoters of the bill are confident that bipartisan support and the explicit backing of President Donald Trump will allow the initiative to become law in the coming weeks. If approved, the package would represent one of the most significant tightening of U.S. sanctions against Russia since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine and would expand pressure on Iran and other Kremlin allies through new economic and financial restrictions.
In 2025, a proposal in the U.S. Senate sought sanctions against Putin's government after claiming that it was not taking the necessary actions to end the war in Ukraine
