US President Donald Trump on Sunday backed expanding the proposed Russia sanctions legislation to include Iran, urging Republican lawmakers to broaden the scope of the bill.“Republicans should add Iran to the Russian Sanctions Bill. That’s what Lindsey wanted to do, and it was going to happen. Important!!!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.Earlier, Trump had said he “couldn’t care less” about Iran’s decision to stop abiding by the US-Iran memorandum of understanding (MoU), reiterating that Washington’s priority remains preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, according to Al Jazeera.Trump’s remarks referred to the “Sanctioning Russia Act”, legislation originally championed by the late US Senator Lindsey Graham.A bipartisan group of more than 60 US senators on Thursday (local time) introduced a revised version of the bill, replacing the earlier proposal for blanket tariffs with targeted sanctions aimed at the world’s largest buyers of Russian energy.The legislation, titled the “Senator Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act of 2026”, was introduced by Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Richard Blumenthal and Darline Graham. It seeks to hold major purchasers of Russian oil and gas accountable for supporting Moscow’s war in Ukraine.According to the bill’s sponsors, Graham met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week and secured White House approval for the revised draft before his death. Graham and Blumenthal had first introduced the sanctions proposal in April 2025.The revised bill “refines tariff authority from a blanket 500 per cent tariff to tariffs on the top five purchasers of Russian crude oil and natural gas of up to 100 per cent,” while creating an exception for countries importing less than 15 per cent of Russia’s natural gas exports if they are taking significant steps to reduce those imports.The updated legislation also “adds new authority to impose tariffs of up to 100 percent on the top five countries facilitating Russian oil sanctions evasion,” “updates the waiver to require a national interest certification consistent with other sanctions laws,” “incorporates the bipartisan SHADOW Fleet Sanctions Act targeting Russia’s sanctions-evasion fleet,” and “includes the bipartisan STOP Russia-China Act targeting Chinese support for Russia’s defense industrial base.“Trump had earlier backed the sanctions bill in January, endorsing measures targeting countries that continue to purchase Russian oil.
