Tehran, October 02: The US House of Representatives approved Thursday legislation that would sanction foreign companies that sell gasoline to Iran, as talks on the country’s nuclear program were underway in Geneva.
The bill would prevent companies that sell gasoline to Iran from holding contracts with the US Energy Department to supply the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The ban, adopted as part of the 2010 energy budget, affects companies that have gasoline contracts with Iran that are worth more than one million dollars.
It also covers companies that provide Iran with the means to improve their own refining capacity or their ability to import refined petroleum products.
The Senate has yet to vote on the measure, which is part of the final energy budget bill hammered out in negotiations between the two chambers of Congress.
Republican Senators Jon Kyl and Susan Collins, authors of the measure, welcomed the House vote Thursday in a statement.
“It is fitting that today, as the president begins his strategy of engagement with the Iranians, legislation is on its way to his desk containing a provision we authored that prohibits the US government from buying oil from companies that sell or ship gasoline to Iran,” the statement said.
“This provision sends a message to companies that put profits over security,” the lawmakers said, “You can do business in our 13 trillion dollar economy or Iran’s 250 billion dollar economy.”
While a major oil producer, Iran lacks refining capacity and so imports 40 percent of its gasoline, according to estimates.
On Thursday, representatives of six major powers met with Iranian negotiators to discuss the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in talks in Geneva, Switzerland.
The talks come as President Barack Obama continues to hold out the prospect of dialogue with Iran, backed by the threat of sanctions if Tehran fails to quickly deliver “concrete” measures.
The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is the largest stockpile of government-owned crude oil in the world. Established in 1975, after the Arab oil embargo, it is intended to protect the United States in the event of disruptions in the oil supply.
–Agencies