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Groton Daily Independent
Friday, July 28, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 028 ~ 36 of 54
are warranted — sanctions are called for,” Ryan told reporters Thursday. “And we want to make sure that they’re tough sanctions and that they’re durable sanctions. It took us a while to gure this out and come together to get the policy right . . . and we all agreed we believe these tough hostile regimes deserve sanctions and this is the bipartisan compromise that produces that.”
Trump hasn’t threatened to reject the bill even though Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other senior administration of cials had objected to a mandated congressional review should the president attempt to ease or lift the sanctions on Russia. They’ve argued it would infringe on the president’s executive author- ity and tie his hands as he explores avenues of communication and cooperation between the two former Cold War foes.
Russia’s ambitions to be on equal footing with the U.S. suffered a setback in 2014 when the Obama administration authorized sanctions against sectors of the Russian economy, including nancial services, energy, mining and defense. The administration also sanctioned people in Putin’s inner circle accused of undermining peace in Ukraine. Add to that falling oil prices and a weak ruble, and Russia’s economy was shackled.
Sanctions relief is important to Russia’s broader objective of superpower status, shown by its bullish Syria policy. Syria’s Russian-backed military made major gains in rebel-held eastern Aleppo in recent days and rebel resistance appeared to be crumbling. While Moscow and Washington are continuously at odds over Syria, the Obama administration did not impose any Syria-related sanctions.
Trump’s positions on Russia are generally hard to assess because he’s often stepped away from his more controversial proposals. In his meeting this month with Putin on the sidelines of the Group of 20 leading rich and developing nations summit in Germany, Trump said he repeatedly addressed the topic of Russia’s meddling in the U.S. election. But he never directly answered questions about whether he believed Putin’s claims that Russia had nothing to do with it.
“There is a bipartisan consensus to confront Russia across the board — from its actions in Ukraine, Syria, cyber, its election meddling — you name it,” said Boris Zilberman, a Russia sanctions expert with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
“Russia is the driving force in the sanctions bill,” he added. “So we see the legislative branch now trying to send a clear message to the executive branch on where they stand on the issue.”
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AP writer Richard Lardner contributed to this report.
Iran claims launch of satellite-carrying rocket into space By AMIR VAHDAT and ADAM SCHRECK, Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran successfully launched its most advanced satellite-carrying rocket into space, the country’s state media reported Thursday, in what is likely the most signi cant step yet for the launch vehicle.
A con rmed launch of the “Simorgh” rocket would mark another step forward for the Islamic Republic’s young space program, but is likely to raise alarm among its adversaries, who fear the same technology could be used to produce long-range missiles.
The U.S. State Department called the launch “provocative.”
Iranian state television said the rocket, whose name means “phoenix” in Persian, is capable of carrying a satellite weighing 250 kilograms (550 pounds). The report did not elaborate on the rocket’s payload. Other state-linked agencies including the semi-of cial Fars news agency also described the launch as successful.
Media reports did not say when the launch took place at the Imam Khomeini National Space Station in Semnan, some 220 kilometers (138 miles) east of Tehran.
Iran frequently announces technological breakthroughs that are dif cult to independently verify. It has carried out multiple tests of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles as well as other domestically pro- duced weapons over the years.
The Simorgh is a two-stage rocket rst revealed in 2010. It is larger than an earlier model known as the