CHANGE IT BACK: Senate Bill Addresses Flaws in Iran Nuclear Deal.

Late last week, the U.S. Senate passed a bill containing new sanctions against Iran. Entitled the “Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act of 2017,” the proposed legislation includes measures requiring the U.S. to designate as a terrorist organization the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the chief agent of Tehran’s subversive regional agenda. While the bill must win approval in the House and be signed by the president before becoming public law, its language and 98-2 passage signal a renewed U.S. determination to counter Iran’s non-nuclear threats with non-nuclear sanctions.

The Senate’s overwhelming bipartisan vote to enforce arms embargos, impede Iran’s ballistic missile development, and impose human rights sanctions is consistent with the Obama administration’s principle that Iran ought to remain subject to new sanctions for misbehavior unrelated to its nuclear program. In practice, however, the desire to protect the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal prevented Obama from taking any significant action that carried the risk of antagonizing Tehran.

Obama also front-loaded the deal where Iran got its money back up front in exchange for mere promises of good behavior in the future — so there’s really only so much Congress can do to undo the damage.