US Senators Bob Menendez and Mark Kirk, the architects of illegal sanctions against Iran, are among the most corrupt lawmakers in the United States, Press TV reports.
Sen. Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is on the list of 13 most corrupt members of Congress, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW), a watchdog group in Washington.
The CREW put Menendez on the list this year because of accusations that he did favors for a friend and campaign donor, Salomon Melgen, and accepted rides on his private plane without disclosing them.
Similarly, in November 2012, the Daily Caller reported that Menendez had contact with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic. However, the hawkish senator has never faced prosecution over the allegations.
Senator Mark Kirk, Republican of Illinois, is also accused of corruption and has admitted that he lied about his military service record in Iraq. Kirk has teamed up with Menendez to push for more sanctions targeting Iran’s oil export and foreign reserves.
Menendez said on Monday that he aimed to cut Iran’s current oil exports to 500,000 barrels per day.
“This is not the time to loosen sanctions,” he said during a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in New York.
The two senators claim the sanctions target the Iranian government but reports suggest that the sanctions have directly affected ordinary Iranians. The US sanctions have made the import of vital medicines extremely difficult for Iran and dramatically increased the prices of medical supplies.
Menendez and Kirk’s push for new sanctions against Iran has been met with resistance from senior White House officials who believe such measures would be counterproductive as nuclear talks unfold.
In a closed-door briefing on Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and other administration officials urged the senators to hold off on the new package of sanctions.
Iran held nuclear talks with the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany in Geneva earlier this month. They are set to meet again in Geneva on November 7-8.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran categorically rejects the allegation, arguing that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
AHT/HJ
Source: Press TV