US Senate panel adopts new Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON: A key US Senate panel adopted a sweeping package of tough new sanctions Thursday aimed at forcing Iran to freeze its suspect nuclear program amid escalating worries of a military confrontation.

The Senate Banking Committee approved the harsh new measures by voice vote, without dissent, as part of a mounting campaign in the US Congress to tighten the economic screws on the defiant Islamic republic.

The legislation targets Iran's national oil and tanker firms, its elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and would for the first time widen sanctions on Iran's energy sector to any joint venture anywhere in the world where Iran's government is a substantial partner or investor. (AFP)