May 26, 2018
On a vote of 410-2, the US House of Representatives has passed a bill authorizing the president to sanction Iranian officials who have a role in arresting dual nationals and foreigners and holding them as “hostages.” The sanctions would deny them US visas and freeze any of their assets found inside the United States. The new legislation says, “The Iranian regime reportedly uses hostages as leverage against investors to exact business concessions in foreign deals.” That is a new allegation the Iran Times has not previously seen; it isn’t clear where the House got that idea.