🔸The U.S. Senate, with 86 votes in favor and 12 against, sent a bill to the next stage that, alongside intensifying economic pressure on Russia, extends Iran-related sanctions until 2031.

🔸The bill, which is named after the late Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator, still needs to be approved in a final Senate vote and then reviewed by the House of Representatives.

🔸Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democratic senator and a supporter of the bill, told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that adding Iran to the sanctions package—especially among Republicans—has increased the chances of it becoming law. According to him, Donald Trump’s support for the final version of the bill also made its passage more likely.

🔸The main part of the measure targets Russia and allows the U.S. president to impose tariffs on large buyers of Russian oil and gas, while expanding sanctions against the country’s financial institutions, officials, and shadow fleet.